Congressional Hearings
ONE YEAR LATER: THE AMERICAN INNOVATION AND COMPETITIVENESS ACT
Congressional Hearings
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Congress: Senate
CHRG-115shrg37300
| AUTHORITYID | CHAMBER | TYPE | COMMITTEENAME |
|---|---|---|---|
| sscm00 | S | S | Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation |
[Senate Hearing 115-654]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 115-654
ONE YEAR LATER: THE AMERICAN INNOVATION AND COMPETITIVENESS ACT
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE,
SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
JANUARY 30, 2018
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation
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Available online: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
37-300 PDF WASHINGTON : 2019
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SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Chairman
ROGER WICKER, Mississippi BILL NELSON, Florida, Ranking
ROY BLUNT, Missouri MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
TED CRUZ, Texas AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
JERRY MORAN, Kansas BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts
DEAN HELLER, Nevada TOM UDALL, New Mexico
JAMES INHOFE, Oklahoma GARY PETERS, Michigan
MIKE LEE, Utah TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
CORY GARDNER, Colorado CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
TODD YOUNG, Indiana JON TESTER, Montana
Nick Rossi, Staff Director
Adrian Arnakis, Deputy Staff Director
Jason Van Beek, General Counsel
Kim Lipsky, Democratic Staff Director
Chris Day, Democratic Deputy Staff Director
Renae Black, Senior Counsel
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Hearing held on January 30, 2018................................. 1
Statement of Senator Gardner..................................... 1
Letter dated January 30, 2018 to Hon. John Thune and Hon. Bill
Nelson from Ted M. Wackler, Deputy Chief of Staff and Assistant
Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive
Office of the President........................................ 23
Statement of Senator Nelson...................................... 2
Statement of Senator Peters...................................... 4
Statement of Senator Cortez Masto................................ 29
Statement of Senator Thune....................................... 32
Statement of Senator Hassan...................................... 34
Statement of Senator Markey...................................... 40
Witnesses
Dr. France Cordova, Director, National Science Foundation........ 5
Prepared statement........................................... 7
Dr. Walter Copan, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and
Technology and Director, National Institute of Standards and
Technology, United States Department of Commerce............... 12
Prepared statement........................................... 14
Appendix
Response to written questions submitted to Hon. France Cordova
by:
Hon. John Thune.............................................. 45
Hon. Roger Wicker............................................ 46
Hon. Bill Nelson............................................. 46
Hon. Catherine Cortez Masto.................................. 48
Hon. Maria Cantwell.......................................... 48
Hon. Amy Klobuchar........................................... 50
Hon. Richard Blumenthal...................................... 50
Hon. Tom Udall............................................... 51
Hon. Maggie Hassan........................................... 57
Response to written questions submitted to Dr. Walter Copan by:
Hon. Bill Nelson............................................. 57
Hon. Amy Klobuchar........................................... 58
Hon. Richard Blumenthal...................................... 59
Hon. Tom Udall............................................... 60
Hon. Catherine Cortez Masto.................................. 60
ONE YEAR LATER: THE AMERICAN INNOVATION AND COMPETITIVENESS ACT
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2018
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:38 p.m., in
room SR-253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Cory Gardner,
presiding.
Present: Senators Thune, Fischer, Gardner [presiding],
Nelson, Cantwell, Klobuchar, Blumenthal, Markey, Peters,
Hassan, and Cortez Masto.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CORY GARDNER,
U.S. SENATOR FROM COLORADO
Senator Gardner. Well, good afternoon, and thank you,
everyone, for participating in this hearing today. Thank you to
our witnesses. And, Dr. Cordova and Dr. Copan, thank you so
much, both of you, for being here.
I would also like to extend a special thank-you to Chairman
Thune for allowing me to chair this hearing, as well as Ranking
Member Nelson and Senator Peters for your partnership, your
incredible work that we did on the American Innovation and
Competitiveness Act, or I have an acronym here, AICA. I guess
nobody uses that one, right?
[Laughter.]
Senator Gardner. How about America COMPETES last Congress?
It's an honor to represent a state like Colorado, where we
have so many incredible Federal labs, including facilities
operated by NSF and NIST. Whether in car, in rail, or any of
the other nearly 30 Federal labs, Colorado is lucky to house
our Nation's foremost thinkers in the research and development
space.
This hearing marks just over one year since President Obama
signed the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act into
law. Senator Peters and I worked closely with Chairman Thune,
Ranking Member Nelson, and other members of this Committee over
the course of about 18 months to assemble a bill that built on
the successes of the America COMPETES legislation passed in
2007 and in 2010. Our goals revolved around three principal
components: maximizing basic research, improving STEM
education, and encouraging greater commercialization and
technology transfer opportunities. We developed our legislation
through a series of roundtable discussions, dozens of
stakeholder meetings, a Commerce Committee hearing and markup,
and a thorough review of countless comments, interested
parties, and agencies alike submitted for consideration.
In the end, we were able to pass the first major Commerce
Committee-led reauthorization of the National Science
Foundation and National Institute of Standards and Technology
in 6 years. Former Vice-Chair of the National Science Board,
Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier, supported this process and thanked us
for helping to, quote, make science bipartisan again.
Despite all the successes we were able to achieve, there is
still much work to be done. While the United States remains the
global leader in research and development investments at
approximately 26 percent of the global total according to
recent National Science Board publications, China is quickly
closing the gap and is now spending about 21 percent of the
global R&D total. And the recently published ITIF study shows
that the U.S. is falling out of the top 10 global innovators
for the first time in history.
While this isn't a hearing on funding, I would like to
reiterate my strong support for robust funding increases in
both the National Science Foundation and the National Institute
of Standards and Technology. Unless we dedicate more support to
our Nation's research and development enterprise, we will lose
out to competitors like China, who are quickly working to
displace the United States as the world's greatest innovator.
But we also have to ensure our research agencies are
functioning at all levels and are able to continue to produce
the best possible outcomes for our country. And so now that
more than a year has passed since the Act's passage, it
presents a great opportunity to hear about the progress of
AICA--I'm just going to keep saying that, just get it out----
[Laughter.]
Senator Gardner.--implementation from the well-qualified
leaders, both at NSF and NIST in their first appearances before
the Senate Commerce Committee since taking the helms at their
agencies.
With that, it's my pleasure to first introduce Dr. Cordova
and Dr. Copan, but before we do the formal introductions, I
want to turn it over to Ranking Member Bill Nelson for his
comments, and then some comments from Senator Peters.
STATEMENT OF HON. BILL NELSON,
U.S. SENATOR FROM FLORIDA
Senator Nelson. Mr. Chairman, as you know, I approach my
service in the Senate in a bipartisan way. You and I
specifically have worked together with regard to the DACA kids
and I want you to know that my comments are not partisan, they
are an observation of some of the things that this Senator
thinks are alarming with regard to science from the new
administration over the past year. What I am saying is built on
a lifetime of having an appreciation for science, having
participated in one of the major science programs of the U.S.
Government, and wanting to continually support the advancement
of science as a major contributor to the quality of life of us,
as individuals, as well as a nation.
The public interest, public health and national security
are going to depend on advancements in science. It is the fuel
for innovation and the U.S. has led the world for a century in
the development of new technologies and scientific achievement.
The examples are legion. The Russians thought they were going
to get to the Moon first. They shot the pants off us by putting
up the first satellite. They shot the pants off us by putting
up Gagarin. Then one orbit and then they ticked off three
orbits before we could ever even get out of suborbit. I could
go on and on and on from satellite communications to cutting-
edge fields like gene editing. Look what Dr. Francis Collins
did at NIH in harnessing understanding the whole genome code.
The advancement of science has depended on a healthy
investment in research by the Federal Government. But I think
what we're doing is losing ground to overseas competition. The
National Science Board just released their report on the state
of the U.S. science enterprise and their findings are chilling.
China is now the second largest investor in R&D, a key driver
of global competitiveness. And China's R&D investment continues
to grow at a much higher pace than other nations. At this rate,
China may soon eclipse the U.S., and we will lose the
competitive advantage that has made us the most powerful
economy in the world. These findings echo what we've heard time
and again from the National Academies of Science as well as
industry leaders like a former Coloradan, Norm Augustine, who
first sounded the alarm 10 years ago.
And so what we see in the proposed 2018 budget is slashing
National Science Foundation spending by 11 percent, slashing
the very agency that you just gave appropriate accolades to,
NIST, by 23 percent. By contrast, the version of American
Innovation and Competitiveness Act, that this Committee
reported unanimously recommended a 4 percent increase for those
agencies.
Now, part of the problem is that there are still vacancies
in the administration--science advisor is one. That means when
decisions like budget or leaving the Paris climate accords are
under consideration, there is no science voice in the room.
Just as troubling are the many reports of interference in
science. Nearly a year ago, we introduced legislation to ensure
that science was protected from political interference. And
yet, what do we see? Listen to what Columbia Law School has
documented, over 100 cases of censorship and other meddling in
science over the last year. At EPA, a political appointee is
now reviewing grant applications instead of a career Federal
employee.
Some scientists have been told that they cannot talk about
their research and others have been moved out of science jobs.
Given the stakes, we better be paying attention to this. Now,
luckily, at NSF and NIST, we have qualified leadership.
Dr. Cordova and Dr. Copan, you are on the front lines of
protecting scientists and their research from politics. I hope
you remain strong. The bottom line is science should be a
nonpartisan issue. That's what I say about NASA all the time.
It should be not partisan or even bipartisan, it ought to be
nonpartisan. So hopefully you all can shed some light on this.
And, Senator Gardner, I want to recognize your leadership
as well as Chairman Thune's and Senator Peters' in passing into
law the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act just one
year ago. I was proud of you, I was proud to cosponsor that
legislation, and that was a truly bipartisan consensus-building
effort.
Thank you.
Senator Gardner. Thank you, Senator Nelson.
And to Senator Peters we turn next. But again my
appreciation for your work on this legislation.
STATEMENT OF HON. GARY PETERS,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MICHIGAN
Senator Peters. Well, thank you, Chairman Gardner. And it
was wonderful working with you on this legislation. And I echo
Senator Nelson's comments. It truly was a bipartisan process.
You mentioned in your comments the roundtables that we held.
Those were some of the most productive roundtables that I've
ever attended. As a Member of the Senate, we got very frank
advice from all of the stakeholders involved in the scientific
enterprise, from the business community to academics to
innovators, and all of that went into this legislation, and
certainly Senator Nelson and Senator Thune were a big part of
making this legislation a success.
But it is only a success if it actually gets implemented
properly, and that's why both Dr. Cordova and Dr. Copan, you're
here. Thank you for your leadership. Thank you for taking up
these issues and working on making sure that our bill, which
was designed to promote Federal science and research, to
strengthen innovation, advance manufacturing, also concerned
about skilled workforce to make sure STEM education, or STEAM
education, is a priority going forward.
But I want to echo what my colleagues have said, that now
is really the time, in my mind, to double down on these policy
goals and to make sure that they're actually met. I believe
that we're living in perhaps one of the most fascinating times
in human history when it comes to the breakthroughs that we're
likely to see in scientific and engineering breakthroughs, but
we're also facing significant competition from folks all around
the world, and we need to step up our game and continue to do
what we do so well. And a lot of that is going to rely on you,
and it's on your shoulders and all of the colleagues you work
with in the scientific community generally.
So I look forward to having a very close relationship with
both of you. Thank you for your commitment to this, and we hope
that this Committee will be, continue to be, a beacon of
bipartisanship in the area of scientific endeavor.
Thank you.
Senator Gardner. Thank you, Senator Peters. And with that,
it's my great pleasure to introduce Dr. Cordova and Dr. Copan.
Dr. Cordova is the Director of NSF, where she has served
since March 2014. Prior to that role, she served as President
of Purdue University and Chancellor of the University of
California at Riverside as a Distinguished Professor of Physics
and Astronomy.
Dr. Cordova has also served as NASA's chief scientist in
addition to numerous other prominent roles in science and
academia.
Dr. Copan has served--has been serving as NIST's Director
since October 2017. Prior to his confirmation, Dr. Copan worked
as the head of an engineering firm in the great State of
Colorado, where it got a lot of snow last week, and the ski
resorts are great, and served as a board member at Rocky
Mountain Innovation Partners, where he advocated for Federal
labs and the U.S. research and development enterprise.
Dr. Copan has a long history in the technology
commercialization space and has worked in several positions in
the private sector.
Dr. Cordova, if you would like to begin, and then we'll
follow that up with Dr. Copan.
STATEMENT OF DR. FRANCE CORDOVA, DIRECTOR,
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Dr. Cordova. Thank you, Chairman Gardner, members of the
Committee, Mr. Peters, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Cortez
Masto.
I'm pleased to be here today to celebrate the one-year
anniversary of the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act.
The Act represents a bipartisan endorsement of the mandate and
mission of the National Science Foundation and the innovation,
scientific discovery, economic impact, and transformative
effects of the fundamental research we fund.
Last month, I attended the 2017 Nobel Prize Award ceremony
in Stockholm, Sweden. I was there to celebrate scientists in
the fields of physics, economics, biology, and chemistry. All
eight U.S. Nobelists were at some point supported by the
National Science Foundation. In fact, NSF-funded researchers
account for 231 Nobel Prizes dating back to 1955. Congress'
support for basic research has been vital to their
breakthroughs. In fact, in the LIGO observation that was given
the Breakthrough of the Year award by Science Magazine and the
Nobel Prize in Sweden, that research has been supported by
Congress for 40 years. So congratulations to all of you.
The AICA further serves to codify how NSF invests in
science, innovation, and education. When the bill was signed
into law, I directed an agency-wide approach to its
implementation, which included establishing a coordinating
committee to ensure an effective and efficient response. And I
have with me in the audience Dr. Wanda Ward, who leads the
Coordinating Commission.
Wanda, if you would just lift your hand, please.
I'm very proud of the work done to date, and I'll highlight
just a few of the provisions of the law, how NSF is responding,
and how they're positively impacting the Nation.
First, on transparency and accountability. Importantly, the
AICA affirms NSF's longstanding and world-renowned merit review
process and addresses NSF's implementation of increased
transparency and accountability.
Recognizing the importance of the public's confidence in
our work, the Act requires that the research goals of funded
projects are clearly identified in a manner that can be easily
understood by all audiences. Over the past year, I've met with
leaders across NSF to reemphasize the need for clarity and
strong justifications so that the public can understand what we
are funding and, most importantly, why we're funding it. Each
award now explains the project's significance and importance in
clear language.
On facilities, NSF's work would not be possible without the
world-class facilities that are the tools of scientists around
the country and the world.
And, Senator Gardner, you mentioned a few of those in the
Boulder area.
To be at the forefront of science often requires unique
instruments that take decades to design, build, and perfect.
And an apt example is the one I mentioned, the LIGO
Observatory, which in 2015 detected gravitational waves first
predicted by Albert Einstein a century ago, and it opened a new
and most exciting chapter in astrophysics.
LIGO was first conceived in the 1970s. Construction began
in the 1990s. After 40 years of significant investments in
resources, it has become a revolutionary tool that will allow
us to unlock mysteries of the universe.
The AICA focuses on strengthening oversight and
accountability for large facilities and support for what they
call mid-scale projects. In response, NSF has maintained a
Large Facilities Office, and I have appointed Dr. James
Ulvestad, also sitting with me in the audience--Jim, raise your
hand, please--as the agency's first Chief Officer for Research
Facilities. This position sits in the Office of the Director
and reports directly to me. I'm confident these steps and
others we've taken, such as requiring independent cost
estimates, will lead to improved outcomes.
NSF is also evaluating the existing and future needs for
mid-scale projects as defined by the AICA. We've issued a
Request for Information to assess the demand for projects that
could cost between $20 and $100 million. We received nearly 200
responses, totaling a demand of about $10 billion for such
projects. This is an area that we don't even fund right now, a
$10 billion demand out there for first-class facilities in this
cost range. NSF will now use this information to develop
strategies for supporting these efforts.
On STEM education and I-Corps, Title III of the Act
highlights some areas of STEM education that have been key
investments for NSF for many years and where we're seeing
positive impacts. The law also demonstrates a commitment to
drawing in more people who are talented into STEM fields by
inspiring them early on, just as I was inspired, just as you
were inspired, with excellent learning opportunities, including
engagement in computer science.
NSF, in collaboration with other agencies, is standing up a
STEM Education Advisory Council, as required by Section 303. We
solicited nominations, and the response has been most
impressive. We have received over 400 discrete individual
nominations, including many with support from Members of
Congress. We're working toward having the appointments made in
the next month or two.
And, finally, I would like to highlight the Innovation
Corps, or I-Corps, program. Since it was established in 2011,
NSF has enabled the formation of over 450 companies through
this program. They've collectively raised over $250 million in
seed capital. The I-Corps program is helping to focus efforts
and ideas that are commercially viable, thus, avoiding
expenditures on those that are not. This efficiency, in
addition to the entrepreneurial skills that I-Corps teaches,
has made it a highly sought program. NSF has MOUs with nine
other Federal agencies now, we've inspired their own I-Corps
programs, and the State of Ohio.
Mr. Chairman, these are but a few of the successes we're
seeing in the implementation of I-Corps, so thank you for this
marvelous Act.
And now I turn to my colleague here. And thank you for the
time. And I'm pleased to answer your questions.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Cordova follows:]
Prepared Statement of Dr. France Cordova, Director,
National Science Foundation
Chairman Thune, Ranking Member Nelson, and Members of the
Committee, it is a privilege to be here with you today to discuss the
American Innovation and Competitiveness Act (AICA) following its one-
year anniversary. There is much to celebrate.
Established by the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 (Public
Law 81-507), the National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent
Federal agency whose mission is ``to promote the progress of science;
to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the
national defense; and for other purposes.'' NSF is unique in carrying
out its mission by supporting fundamental research across all fields of
science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and all levels
of STEM education. Investing in STEM research and education is
essential to America's prosperity, economic competitiveness, and
quality of life. A vibrant scientific workforce and breakthrough
discoveries enabled by NSF investments sustain, accelerate, and
transform America's globally preeminent innovation ecosystem. NSF is a
respected steward of taxpayer dollars, operating with integrity,
openness, and transparency.
In January 2017, the President signed into law the American
Innovation and Competitiveness Act (Public Law 114-389), a bipartisan
effort, led by this Committee, that reflect continued strong support
for NSF's investments in basic and collaborative research that benefit
our country and the world. This support allows NSF to continue to fund
incredible discoveries and advances. In fact, NSF-funded researchers
account for 231 Nobel prizes, including most recently in October of
last year for physics (observation of gravitational waves), economics,
biology and chemistry. In all, NSF's awards have led to
transformational discoveries for the Nation--impacting Americans'
everyday lives.
The AICA also affirms NSF's long-standing and world-renowned merit
review process and addresses NSF's implementation of issues of
importance such as increased transparency and accountability, and
management of multi-user facilities and mid-scale projects while
maximizing research and education opportunities that help create the
innovations that fuel our economy. The AICA promotes the Foundation's
commitment to diversity in STEM fields, incentivizes NSF's programs
that encourage private-sector involvement, and re-affirms NSF's
continued commitment to entrepreneurship and commercialization.
The AICA does not change the Foundation's portfolio of investments
or the way we do business--in research, education, infrastructure, and
administration--rather, it enhances and strengthens it, and serves to
codify how NSF invests in science, innovation, and education.
The AICA requirements are well aligned with NSF's mission. They
vary considerably, however, in scope, complexity, and stage of
development/completion. Thus, we take an intentional and strategic
approach in responding to and complying with each requirement.
Oversight and Implementation of NSF's Response to the AICA
NSF has taken an agency-wide approach in the implementation of AICA
requirements. In May 2017, I established the AICA Coordinating
Committee to ensure an effective and efficient agency response to the
AICA. The Coordinating Committee was charged to: coordinate and oversee
the implementation of NSF's response to the AICA; produce an agency
wide action plan to identify AICA sections requiring policy development
or executive management decisions; and develop a central repository of
AICA-related tasks, deliverables, and documentation.
I would now like to highlight some of the major provisions of the
bill of special interest to the Committee, and how NSF is responding.
Title I--Maximizing Basic Research
Sec. 102 Transparency and Accountability
This section requires NSF to issue and periodically update policy
guidance on the importance of transparency and accountability to the
outcomes made through the merit review process. The AICA requires that
each public notice of a Foundation-funded research project justify the
expenditure of Federal funds by describing how the project reflects the
statutory mission of the Foundation and how it addresses the
Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts criteria. Sec. 102
also requires that the research goals of the project are clearly
identified in a manner that can be easily understood by both technical
and non-technical audiences.
NSF consistently makes awards that meet the Intellectual Merit and
Broader Impacts criteria and contribute to the NSF mission. Over the
past year, I have met with leaders at the directorate level and at the
division level to re-emphasize the need for clarity and justification
in our award abstracts so that the public can understand what we are
funding and why we are funding it.
To become more transparent and explicit about this process, each
award abstract now includes a nontechnical description of the project,
which explains the project's significance and importance in lay
language, as well as a technical description. In addition, NSF
continues to enhance its staff training on the writing of titles and
abstracts to improve the clarity of the award abstracts.
Finally, NSF is updating the Proposal and Award Manual, so that the
final paragraph of all award abstracts will include the following
common statement: ``This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has
been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's
intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.'' This policy
adds a direct restatement of the AICA language to each abstract. By
adding this statement, NSF affirms to all readers that every award made
is aligned with our mission and is made according to our merit review
process.
Sec. 109 Midscale Project Investments
This section established a definition for mid-scale projects, and
directs NSF to evaluate existing and future needs for mid-scale
funding. The definition of mid-scale contained in this provision aligns
with NSF's current internal definition for mid-scale programs.
Instrumentation and equipment up to $4 million has been routinely
funded through the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, while
large-scale research infrastructure projects have been successfully
funded through NSF's Major Research Equipment and Facilities
Construction (MREFC) Account. The adjustment in November 2016 to lower
the MREFC threshold to $70 million was an initial step to support
potential priorities in mid-scale science and infrastructure.
On October 6, 2017, NSF issued a Dear Colleague Letter: Request for
Information on Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure (NSF 18-013) to assess
the needs for mid-scale research infrastructure with an anticipated NSF
contribution of between $20 million and $100 million towards
construction and/or acquisition. This range is of primary interest to
NSF as it will help us to identify types of projects that remain
difficult to address within program budgets due to the comparatively
large investment needed in a relatively short period of time.
NSF received 191 responses to the Request for Information, is
currently analyzing the input, and plans to summarize the high-level
insights drawn from this analysis for the science community and
internal NSF use to develop possible strategies for supporting mid-
scale research infrastructure.
Sec. 110 Oversight of NSF Major Multi-User Research Facility Projects
Sec. 110 strengthens oversight and accountability over NSF's large-
scale research facility projects funded by the major research equipment
and facilities construction account in order to maximize research
investment. In response, NSF has made revisions to the Large Facilities
Manual, the Standard Operating Guidance, and the Process Narrative for
A-123 Internal Controls Compliance in order to clarify the roles and
responsibilities of all organizations, including policies and
procedures for planning, management, and oversight of major multi-user
research facility projects, at each phase of the lifecycle. NSF has
maintained a Large Facilities Office to support the research
directorates and, on December 12, 2017, NSF announced that Dr. James
Ulvestad will serve as the agency's first Chief Officer for Research
Facilities. This position sits in the Office of the Director and
reports directly to me. Dr. Ulvestad will have full lifecycle oversight
responsibility for NSF major research facilities. He has initiated an
NSF Facilities Governance Board for strategic issues, as well as a
group of Accountable Program Officials from the relevant research
directorates to provide uniform information for the full lifecycle
oversight.
In response to the direction of the AICA, NSF has revised the Large
Facilities Manual and Standard Operating Guidance to require external
analysis of the proposed construction budget for each major multi-user
facility project in accordance with the Government Accountability
Office Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide. An independent cost
estimate is now required for every proposed construction project, and
an independent cost analysis of operational proposals is required for
each major multi-user research facility project. NSF has also updated
its policy guidance to require a risk assessment to inform its use of
business system reviews, incurred cost audits, and other oversight
tools.
In addition, NSF has strengthened internal controls to improve
oversight of contingency, retained control over funds budgeted for
contingency, tracked contingency use, and ensured the amounts allocated
to the project performance baseline are reasonable and allowable. The
updated Large Facilities Manual and recently issued Standard Operating
Guidance also establish guidelines for awardees regarding inappropriate
expenditures associated with all fee types used in cooperative
agreements.
Finally, a notification letter was provided to the Committee
earlier this month on the status of NSF's implementation of the
recommendations made by an expert panel of the National Academy of
Public Administration in the December 2015 report, National Science
Foundation: Use of Cooperative Agreements to Support Large Scale
Investment in Research \1\. In summary, NSF has addressed all the NAPA
recommendations and, under the leadership of the new Chief Officer for
Research Facilities, will finalize the details of implementation over
the coming year. Also, I am very proud to say that in 2017, for the
first time in five years, the OIG's auditor closed the Agency's
Significant Deficiency in the Financial Statement Audit Report for
NSF's oversight of large facility cooperative agreements.
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\1\ Available at http://www.napawash.org/2015/1785-national-
science-foundation-use-of-cooperative-agreements-to-support-large-
investments-in-research.html.
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Sec. 112. Management of the U.S. Antarctic Program
Sec. 112 requires the Director to continue to review NSF's efforts
to sustain and strengthen scientific efforts in the face of logistical
challenges for the U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP).
The Blue Ribbon Panel Report (BRP), More and Better Science in
Antarctica through Increased Logistical Effectiveness, released on July
23, 2012, outlined eleven broad areas of concern and eighty-four
implementing recommendations to address those concerns. Upon receipt of
the report, a ``Tiger Team'' of senior NSF leaders was established that
developed a point-by-point response to the BRP recommendations. The
National Science Board (NSB) reviewed and strongly endorsed these
responses at their December 2012 and February 2013 meetings.
Substantial progress was made in implementing many of the
recommendations when NSF's summary response was formally released on
March 19, 2013.
NSF has made steady progress on the BRP Report recommendations. The
responses have addressed safety concerns, change of contractor from
Lockheed Martin Polar Services to Leidos, and new management of IT
systems, among other things.
The Antarctic Infrastructure Modernization for Science (AIMS)
project is being undertaken to address most of the remaining concerns.
AIMS is now in the final design phase to prepare for the construction
phase. The AIMS program will consolidate the footprint and core
facilities at McMurdo station toward significantly enhanced efficiency
and cost-effectiveness of science support. AIMS will provide
flexibility and resilience to sustain world-class science, and will
result in a number of efficiencies including a reduction in fuel
consumption and vehicle requirements, as well as modernized efficient
buildings, and enhanced safety and improved operational and energy
efficiency. NSF is committed to keeping the United States at the
forefront of science and discovery in Antarctica and the
recapitalization of the Antarctic infrastructure in response to the BRP
is critical to doing so.
Approximately 13 USAP-related findings yielded recommendations that
appeared in the Office of Inspector General's (OIG's) annual Federal
Information Security Management Act (FISMA) reports in the last four
years (FY 2013 thru FY 2016).\2\ In view of NSF's responsive actions
for approximately nine of the findings, the NSF OIG has closed the
related recommendations. As part of the FY17 FISMA audit currently
underway, the NSF OIG is evaluating NSF's responsive actions to the
remaining four findings.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Please note that a finding that was repeated, in whole or in
part, during FY13-16, is counted as one finding.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title III--Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Education
The AICA highlights some areas of STEM Education that have been key
investments for NSF for many years and where we are seeing positive
impacts. Several of the provisions signal Congress's support for
improving K-12 STEM education, and the understanding of NSF's key role
by drawing on the integration of research and education that is at the
core of NSF's uniqueness.
The AICA demonstrates a commitment to drawing more people who are
talented into STEM fields by inspiring them early on with excellent
learning opportunities, including engagement in computer science. The
AICA also focuses on government-wide coordination of STEM education
(and the resulting efficiencies). NSF has played a key role in working
toward this through the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC)
efforts in collaboration with other agencies.
At NSF, because our education activities are integrated with
science and engineering, research and innovation, we recognize that
combining the best that we know from research about learning and
cognition with exciting opportunities to learn STEM is a winning
combination for helping to effectively inspire the next generation.
I would now like to highlight some of the major provisions of Title
III, and how NSF is responding.
Sec. 303 STEM Education Advisory Panel
This section requires NSF, the Department of Education (ED), the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to jointly establish an
advisory group made up of non-federal STEM education stakeholders. The
Panel is tasked with advising the NSTC Committee on Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Math Education (CoSTEM) and recommending
improvements to Federal STEM Education programs.
The STEM Education Advisory Panel (the Panel) was established on
October 18, 2017, under the authority of the AICA and the Federal
Advisory Committee Act of 1972. The Panel will provide advice and
recommendations to CoSTEM, assess CoSTEM's progress in carrying out
responsibilities related to the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act,
and help identify need or opportunity to update the Federal STEM
Education 5-Year Strategic Plan. NSF, ED, NASA, and NOAA have requested
recommendations for membership, and have received over 500 individual
recommendations from Members of Congress, as well as the STEM education
community. Going forward, the Panel will continue to accept
recommendations year-round.
The heads of the Federal science agencies will work to appoint an
energized and engaged group of individuals to an initial term on the
STEM Education Advisory Panel in early 2018. The STEM Education
Advisory Panel membership will consist of no less than 11 individuals.
Members may serve on the panel for up to a three-year term. Advisory
panel meetings will be held twice a year.
Sec. 305 Programs to Expand STEM Opportunities
Section 305 of the AICA reaffirms that NSF should continue to
support programs designed to improve the participation of
underrepresented groups in STEM. Such programs could include grants for
the establishment of a Center of Excellence to increase participation
of underrepresented populations in STEM fields, the purpose of which
would be to build on the success of the Inclusion across the Nation of
Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering
and Science (NSF INCLUDES) program.
NSF INCLUDES is a comprehensive effort to enhance U.S. leadership
in science and engineering discovery and innovation by proactively
seeking and effectively developing STEM talent from all sectors and
groups in our society. A key objective of the NSF INCLUDES initiative
is to engage current NSF awardees working on broadening participation
as well as the broader STEM community in the creation and development
of the NSF INCLUDES National Network.
The initiative is currently developing a National Network composed
of NSF INCLUDES Design and Development Launch Pilots, NSF INCLUDES
Alliances (NSF 18-529), an NSF INCLUDES Coordination Hub (NSF 17-591),
NSF-funded broadening participation projects, other relevant NSF-funded
projects, scholars engaged in broadening participation research, and
other organizations that support the development of talent from all
sectors of society to build an inclusive STEM workforce.
By building the infrastructure for partnerships, communication and
collaboration, NSF aims to advance and scale up what works in
broadening participation programs to reach underserved populations
nationwide.
Sec. 310 Computer Science Education Research
This section requires NSF to make grants to support computer
science (CS) education and computational thinking and report to
Congress in the annual budget submission on the success of the program.
Since 2008, NSF has funded projects to build an evidence-based
foundation for K-12 CS education and an ecosystem of curricula, course
materials, assessments, scalable models of professional development and
online support networks and resources for teachers. CS courses enable
students to develop skills and competencies in problem-solving,
critical thinking, creativity and collaboration that will help them
excel in today's increasingly digital and computational world.
NSF is strongly committed to building the knowledge base--creating
research and development--for computer science education, and
broadening participation among underrepresented students for years to
come. NSF recently released a solicitation entitled Computer Science
for All: Researcher Practitioner Partnerships. This program aims to
provide all U.S. students the opportunity to participate in computer
science and computational thinking education in their schools at the K-
12 levels. With this solicitation, NSF focuses on researcher-
practitioner partnerships that foster the research and development
needed to bring computer science and computational thinking to all
schools.
Specifically, this solicitation aims to provide high school
teachers with the preparation, professional development, and ongoing
support that they need to teach rigorous computer science courses, and
K-8 teachers with the instructional materials and preparation they need
to integrate computer science and computational thinking into their
teaching.
Sec. 311 Informal STEM Education
Section 311 of the AICA amends the STEM Education Act of 2015 to
develop ``a national partnership of institutions involved in informal
STEM learning.'' The section also encourages, ``fostering and
implementing on-going partnerships among institutions involved in
informal STEM learning, institutions of higher education, and education
research centers; and developing, adapting, and making available
informal STEM education activities and educational materials for broad
implementation.''
Informal STEM education programs are important for engaging the
public and promoting understanding of STEM. Partnerships of many kinds
are invaluable in this effort. NSF's primary program to support
informal STEM learning is the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL)
program in the Directorate for Education and Human Resources.
One mechanism for partnership with other directorates is the
opportunity for co-funding individual projects. At present, more than
50 NSF-projects are co-funded between AISL and a program in another
directorate. In addition, the AISL program itself encourages
collaboration across informal STEM institutions. Two tracks of the
program are specifically dedicated to partnerships, and a national
center was recently awarded to a collaboration among several academic
and non-governmental organizations. The purpose of this center is ``to
measurably advance R&D activities and findings that have the potential
to improve innovation, knowledge building and networking, and the
fostering of a more cohesive field of informal STEM learning.''
Looking forward, NSF will continue to encourage partnerships among
diverse entities to further informal STEM education across the Nation.
Title VI--Innovation and Technology Transfer
Sec. 601 Innovation Corps
The AICA encourages the development and expansion of NSF's
Innovation Corps (I-Corps) and other training programs that focus on
professional development, including education in entrepreneurship and
commercialization. It also encourages competitive grants, in
consultation with the Small Business Innovation Research Program, to
help support prototype or proof-of-concept development and activities
necessary to build local, regional, and national infrastructure for
science and engineering entrepreneurship.
The NSF I-Corps program started in 2011 through the convergence of
several trends in the economy, in the understanding of startup
formation, and through NSF's experience with seeding startups through
the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology
Transfer (SBIR/STTR) programs. These trends strongly resonated with
NSF's experience. Our data showed that of the new startups in the SBIR/
STTR programs, many of which were academic spinouts developing cutting
edge and state of the art deep technologies, the greatest challenge to
success was more typically market failure, not technical failure that
they had to overcome. We wanted to work with these trends to try
something new that might better support translating cutting-edge
innovations from the lab to the market.
NSF has enabled over 450 companies to develop through I-Corps
teams. These companies have collectively raised over $250 million in
seed capital. Traditionally, these types of companies take 5-10 years
to fully develop into commercial successes. Early fundraising and
improved success rates in SBIR/STTR programs are a testament to I-
Corps' value in improving the preparation of early stage startups. I-
Corps programs have been adopted and adapted in partnerships with a
growing number of Federal agencies, including the National Institutes
of Health (NIH), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Defense
(DOD), National Security Agency (NSA), United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Small Business
Administration (SBA). The I-Corps model has also been adopted by the
state of Ohio.
NSF is currently working to scale the I-Corps program in line with
the guidance of the AICA. NSF has established an I-Corps Working Group
that is focused on determining how to best meet these requirements. The
Working Group has also developed a draft of metrics to evaluate program
effectiveness.
In addition, to address Section 601 of the AICA, NSF currently has
two pilot programs underway. The first pilot is focused on the
Expansion of I-Corps, and the second pilot is focused on developing
Follow-On Grants. NSF is funding eight I-Corps sites to increase
participation and promote inclusion of underrepresented populations in
entrepreneurship. These sites will pilot novel approaches and
partnerships to engage differently-abled individuals, first-generation
college students, racial and ethnic minorities and women, as well as
Minority-Serving Institutions.
In collaboration with the NSF SBIR/STTR program, NSF launched the
I-Corps Phase 0 pilot. This pilot supports non-academic teams of very
early startups or pre-startups that are developing game-changing
technologies. The Phase 0 Teams will receive national I-Corps training
and participate in a follow-on curriculum called ``I-Corps Go'' that
addresses some of the more common issues in startup formation,
including incorporation, negotiation of intellectual property, and
fundraising.
The I-Corps program is an integral part of the NSF strategy to
stimulate innovation and address societal needs through the
commercialization of the results of fundamental research. NSF will
continue to work with the Committee to expand the program.
While this is not an exhaustive list of all the provisions of the
AICA that impact NSF, please rest assured NSF has assigned action to
each and every section through the AICA Coordinating Committee. We
would be happy to provide the Committee any additional updates.
Conclusion
Mr. Chairman, I can say with certainty that the results of frontier
research funded by NSF have a long record of improving lives and
meeting national needs. With the support of this Committee, Congress,
and the guidance provided by the AICA, NSF will continue to invest in
the fundamental research and the talented people who make the
discoveries that transform our future. These discoveries are a major
driver of the U.S. economy, enhance our Nation's security, and give the
country the competitive edge needed to remain a global leader.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today and for your
continued support of NSF. I will be pleased to answer any questions.
Senator Gardner. Thank you, Dr. Cordova.
And, Dr. Copan.
STATEMENT OF DR. WALTER COPAN, UNDER SECRETARY OF
COMMERCE FOR STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY AND
DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND
TECHNOLOGY, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Dr. Copan. Thank you, Senator Gardner, Ranking Member
Nelson, and members of the Committee. I'm Dr. Walter Copan,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology, and
Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology,
NIST.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to
discuss the implementation of the American Innovation and
Competitiveness Act, or AICA. I would like to thank the
Committee for your work in the passage of this bill, which has
provided new tools and authorities that are helping NIST to
deliver on its mission.
As a nonregulatory agency, NIST has an outsized, positive
impact on the U.S. economy, our quality of life, and national
security. Supporting NIST's work in measurement science
standards and technology, the AICA authorized new programs,
recommended changes to improve our processes, and supported our
world-class personnel at NIST.
NIST has responded to this bill, and we have seen the
benefits to our laboratory programs and operations, which
include codifying NIST's continuing efforts in cybersecurity,
addressing the development of a comprehensive strategic plan
for our laboratory programs, carrying out research leading to
the development of standards for voting security, expanding
interactions with academia, industry, and international
researchers, and, further, increasing NIST's focus to enable
commercial and industrial applications.
Additionally, the AICA reduced the minimum required non-
Federal cost share for cooperative agreement awards under the
Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the MEP, and
implemented new accountability and oversight provisions for
that program. These changes have increased the effectiveness of
MEP. NIST has also significantly strengthened its site security
as well as the culture of security awareness.
The law acknowledges the importance of sharing research
findings and fostering collaboration by facilitating the
process for NIST employees to attend scientific conferences,
workshops, and communicating. It also builds upon previous
authority to conduct prize competitions, and broadens it to
include crowdsourcing and collaborative citizen science, which
serve to advance the NIST mission.
My written testimony provides further details on how NIST
has worked to implement the provisions of the law. NIST
opportunities for impact are directly tied to the Institute's
mission and historic role, and NIST's future must build on the
solid foundation of technical expertise and stakeholder
engagement.
NIST's current priorities, including advanced
manufacturing, technology transfer, cybersecurity, quantum
technologies, and disaster resilience will remain national
imperatives for the decades to come.
To continue to be the bedrock of innovation in the U.S.,
NIST must grow new capabilities, and, as such, we are expanding
our capabilities in the areas of the Internet of Things,
Artificial Intelligence, and the Bioeconomy over the next
decade. With emphasis on these emerging key areas coupled with
continued dedication to areas of traditional expertise and
contribution, NIST will ensure impact over the coming decades.
While the NIST strategic priorities will endure, they will
be influenced by new and rapidly evolving technologies. NIST is
proud of the positive impact we have had and of the
improvements we have been able to make with the AICA
authorization.
NIST maintains its longstanding commitment to advancing
measurement science in order to further innovation and to
increase the competitiveness of the U.S. industry. Our very
broad technical portfolio positions the agency to contribute
productively and rapidly to emerging national needs and
international trade. With NIST's dedicated technical staff, our
unique facilities, and our objective nonregulatory role, we are
well positioned to continue to thrive on delivering on our
important mission, to promote U.S. science, innovation, and
industrial competitiveness.
Thank you for this opportunity to testify on NIST's
implementation of the AICA. And I'd be happy to answer any
questions you may have.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Copan follows:]
Prepared Statement of Dr. Walter Copan, Under Secretary of Commerce for
Standards and Technology and Director, National Institute of
Standards and Technology, United States Department of Commerce
Introduction
Chairman Thune, Ranking Member Nelson, and Members of the
Committee, I am Dr. Walter Copan, Under Secretary of Commerce for
Standards and Technology and Director of the Department of Commerce's
(DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Thank you
for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the
implementation of the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act
(AICA) (P.L. 114-329).
Before I begin, let me thank the Committee for your work in the
passage of the AICA, which provided new tools and authorities that are
helping NIST deliver on its mission.
NIST Mission
NIST is the Nation's measurement science institute. As a non-
regulatory agency within DOC, NIST's mission is to promote U.S.
innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement
science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic
security and improve our quality of life.
Founded in 1901 as the National Bureau of Standards, today NIST
develops and disseminates measurements and standards that enable
comparison, ensure interoperability, and support commerce. NIST's role
is unique: our Federal workforce of over 3,000 employees, over half of
whom are Ph.D. scientists and engineers, work to create the measurement
tools that enable innovation.
NIST's cutting-edge work takes place at two main campuses, the
headquarters in Gaithersburg, MD and a campus in Boulder, CO, as well
as through NIST personnel in Charleston, SC, Kauai, HI, and Palo Alto,
CA. NIST researchers also work in partnership with nine collaborative
research institutes across the country to align the most advanced
metrology with leading scientific research at U.S. universities and
help accelerate the pace of innovation.
The NIST mission has three key themes:
Measurement Science: Creating the experimental and
theoretical tools--methods, metrics, instruments, and data--
that enable innovation.c
Standards: Disseminating measurement standards and providing
technical expertise to further the development of documentary
standards that enable comparison, ensure interoperability, and
support commerce.
Technology: Driving innovation through knowledge
dissemination and public-private partnerships that bridge the
gap between discovery and the marketplace.
Through work in these areas, NIST has an outsized impact on the
U.S. economy, quality of life, and national security.
AICA Passage
To support NIST's work in measurement science, standards and
technology, the ``American Innovation and Competitiveness Act'' (AICA)
(P.L. 114-329)--the successor to the America COMPETES Act--became law
on January 6, 2017 and updated the authorizing legislation for NIST.
The new law authorizes new programs, recommends changes to improve
processes, and supports personnel at NIST. Highlights of the bill
related to our laboratory programs include:
Codifying NIST's continued efforts in cybersecurity;
Requiring the development of a comprehensive strategic plan
for laboratory programs;
Authorizing research leading to the development of standards
for voting security;
Supporting broader interactions with academia, international
researchers, and industry; and,
Directing NIST to expand its focus on enabling commercial
and industrial applications.
The AICA implemented new accountability and oversight provisions
for the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program (MEP).
Further, it authorizes the transfer of direct management of NIST law
enforcement and site security through an assigned Director of Security
for NIST who reports to the Department of Commerce Office of Security
(DOC OSY). The bill acknowledges the importance of allowing employees
to attend scientific conferences and workshops to share findings and
foster collaboration. It also builds upon previous authority to conduct
prize competitions and broadens it to include crowdsourcing and
collaborative citizen science to advance our mission.
My testimony will provide additional details on the provisions of
the legislation and how NIST has worked to implement them.
Cybersecurity Research (Section 104)
Continuing efforts in cyber standards for critical infrastructure.
Section 104 of the bill made a number of changes to the NIST
Cybersecurity program. Under Section 104, NIST has continued its work
on the Cybersecurity Framework, Next-Generation Internet of Things
(IoT), Addressing Botnet Threats, and Securing Unclassified Government
Information.
Cybersecurity Framework: The NIST Cybersecurity Framework
(Framework) serves as voluntary guidance for industry, based on
existing standards, guidelines and practices, for critical
infrastructure organizations to better manage and reduce
cybersecurity risk. In 2017 NIST published two public drafts,
requesting and addressing public comments, for version 1.1 of
the Framework. These updates provided new details on managing
cyber supply chain risks, clarified key terms, and introduced
measurement methods for cybersecurity. Executive Order 13800,
Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and
Critical Infrastructure, requires that all Federal Executive
Branch agencies use the NIST Framework to manage cybersecurity
risk. In 2018, NIST will continue to improve the clarity and
applicability of the Framework focusing on its usability and to
communicate the Framework in support of its effective
implementation.
Next-Generation Safeguards for Information Systems and the
Internet of Things: For the emerging area of Internet of
Things, NIST's Cybersecurity for IoT program supports the
development and application of standards, guidelines and
related tools to improve the cybersecurity of connected
devices--which is a network of connected objects that are able
to collect and exchange data using embedded sensors such as
thermostats, cars, lights, appliances--and the environments in
which they are deployed. NIST has issued a draft revision of
its widely used Special Publication Security and Privacy
Controls for Information Systems and Organizations representing
an ongoing effort to produce a unified information security
framework for the Federal Government. This latest draft
addresses ways various organizations can maintain security and
privacy in their interconnected systems. Next-generation
safeguards include advanced encryption, secure and reliable
connectivity, and cybersecurity for smart grid systems and
cyber physical systems. In 2018, NIST is working to broaden
strategic collaborations and partnerships with IoT industry
experts and its Federal Government partners to facilitate the
development and advancement of IoT interoperability standards,
security and best practices.
NIST initiative seeks industry solutions in support of the
Administration's Botnet initiative: In Executive Order 13800,
the Administration required the Departments of Commerce and
Homeland Security to promote stakeholder action against botnets
and other automated, distributed threats. NIST worked with NTIA
and DHS, in consultation with several other agencies and the
private sector, to publish a draft report earlier this month on
enhancing the resilience of the Internet against botnets. The
report contains draft goals and actions that would improve the
resilience of the ecosystem. The Department is collecting
stakeholder input on the draft report and will incorporate that
input into a final report to the President in May. NIST's
National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) will also
develop a ``practice guide'' to help protect Internet of Things
devices from botnet threats that leverages industry solutions.
The NCCoE is soliciting ``products and technical expertise to
support and demonstrate security platforms'' for securing IoT
from botnet threats, as part of the ``Mitigating IoT-Based DDoS
Building Block'' practice guide.
Securing Unclassified Government Information: Another area
to highlight in our cybersecurity research work is the
publication of Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information
(CUI) in Nonfederal Systems and Organizations, which provides
Federal agencies with recommended requirements for protecting
the confidentiality of CUI that resides on nonfederal systems.
NIST has released for public comment the special publication
Assessing Security Requirements for Controlled Unclassified
Information, which is a guideline for any organization seeking
to comply with the CUI regulation governing the safe handling
of information that is important to the U.S. Government. CUI is
a diverse classification that includes information involving
privacy, proprietary business interests and law enforcement
investigations. The public comment period closed on January 15,
2018; NIST will now address public comments before publishing
an updated version later this year.
Development of quantum computing and cryptography standards.
NIST has made additional advances in the development of quantum
computing and cryptography standards.
Quantum information science research at NIST explores ways to
employ phenomena exclusive to the quantum world to measure, encode and
process information for useful purposes, from powerful data encryption
to computers that could solve problems intractable with classical
computers. Some specific areas that are being addressed are:
Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization: NIST has
initiated a process to solicit, evaluate, and standardize
quantum-resistant public-key cryptographic algorithms. NIST
solicited public comment on draft minimum acceptability
requirements, submission requirements, and evaluation criteria
for candidate algorithms.
Qubits: A team of scientists from the NIST and University of
Maryland with the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) have created a
quantum simulator using 53 interacting atomic qubits to mimic
magnetic quantum matter. Prior to this breakthrough,
researchers had only created quantum simulators of 20 qubits or
less. The building of qubit simulators is a key step toward
building a full-fledged quantum computer.
Single Photon Detector: Individual photons of light now can
be detected far more efficiently using a device patented by a
team including NIST whose scientists have overcome longstanding
limitations with one of the most commonly used type of single-
photon detectors. Their invention could allow higher rates of
transmission of encrypted electronic information and improved
detection of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Chained Bell Test: NIST recently demonstrated a Chained Bell
Test experiment to probe a fundamental assumption of quantum
mechanics. Albert Einstein had described the quantum phenomenon
as ``spooky actions at a distance.'' The NIST method produced
statistically significant results, demonstrating the predicted
quantum behavior by using an ion trap setup to probe quantum
entanglement by manipulation of ion pairs.
Photon Measurement: Future communications networks that are
less vulnerable to hacking are closer to reality because of a
NIST invention that measures the properties of single-photon
sources with high accuracy. The NIST invention measures
detailed information in the spectral properties of photons
10,000 times better than current state-of-the-art devices.
Determine information security vulnerability, challenges and
deficiencies, and
evaluate effectiveness of implementation standards.
Under this authority, critical continuing work for security
includes:
Behavioral Cybersecurity: NIST will assemble a team with
experts in cybersecurity, computers science, networking, human
actors and cognitive psychology, and sociology to answer
questions such as: What technical information does the public
need and how can we make this information more understandable?
Why don't individuals practice safe computing? What societal
factors influence the adoption of safe computing practices?
National Vulnerability Database: The National Vulnerability
Database (NVD) is the U.S. Government repository of standards-
based vulnerability management data represented using the
Security Content Automation Protocol. Over 56,000 entries in
the vulnerability database were either new or modified during
2017. In 2018, NIST will continue to research and develop new
methodologies to increase efficiencies in analyzing and
publishing vulnerability data, while simultaneously improving
data reliability.
Codifies research for standards on voting security.
The final new authority under this section codifies the work NIST
has been doing on cybersecurity of voting systems.
Voting System Cyber Security Public Working Group: The NIST Voting
System Cybersecurity Working Group is the Nation's forum for review and
further development of guidance for voting system cybersecurity-related
issues, including various aspects of security controls and auditing
capabilities. The guidance will inform the development of requirements
for the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) Voluntary Voting System
Guidelines (VVSG).
NIST conducted the research necessary to develop the Draft
Voluntary Voting System Guidelines, version 2.0, progressed
interoperability by advancing the Common Data Format (CDF) for election
systems, and collaborated with interagency partners in providing
additional election security guidance.
NIST research considered significant advances in the technology
used in U.S. voting systems, as well as the public's input for
addressing the needs of all voters to participate in elections. For
example, universal design, mobile devices, and assistive technology now
provide much greater accessibility to voters with disabilities. Better
quality assurance and configuration management methods, new programming
languages, greater fault-tolerance and increased capacity in hardware
components, as well as new approaches to data exchange, software
assurance, and security have emerged in the last decade.
This research in hardware and software, security, human factors and
data exchange led to a draft set of VVSG Principles and Guidelines \1\
and five data formats that were discussed and revised through bi-weekly
teleconferences with the technical Voting Public Working Groups on
Cybersecurity (121 members), Usability and Accessibility (106 members),
and Interoperability (158 members). In addition to the expert review by
the 385 members of these working groups, the draft was adopted at the
September 2017 Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC)
meeting, and is currently under review by the Election Assistance
Commission (EAC) Standards Board and Board of Advisors.
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\1\ http://collaborate.nist.gov/voting/bin/view/Voting/
VVSGPrinciplesAndGuidelines
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Lab Program Improvements (Section 107)
NIST leadership has been working towards developing a long-range
strategic plan for NIST's laboratory programs with the goal to identify
high-level research priorities to best position NIST looking towards a
10-year horizon. This process, which built on years of work developing
short-term prioritized operational plans for each Lab and a year of
engagement articulating NIST's values, sought to produce a long-range
plan that allows NIST leadership to be proactive instead of reactive in
shaping NIST's research environment to address the needs of U.S.
commerce in an ever-changing landscape of both Federal funding and
technical opportunities.
In examining what new technical and organizational capabilities
NIST will require in a decade, NIST's leadership considered what are
likely to be the requirements of NIST's existing priority areas, such
as manufacturing and cybersecurity. What systems will emerge that will
require expanded cybersecurity and privacy capabilities? What
technologies are likely to change the way cryptography works? What
novel products will U.S. manufacturers make, and what new technologies
must they use to be competitive? What technical breakthroughs will
impact NIST's own business models, and how can NIST lead that change?
These questions shaped NIST's identification of opportunities for this
strategic vision.
To lay the groundwork for the strategic plan, a scan of the
technical landscape was completed, and numerous interviews with NIST
senior leadership, former NIST directors, as well as former Visiting
Committee on Advanced Technology members were conducted. The interviews
explored major opportunities, risks, areas for investment/divestment,
NIST culture, leadership, indicators of success, and advice for
Commerce Secretary Ross. During a 2-day workshop held at the end of May
2017, a five-person thought leader panel provided their perspectives on
the future of technology. One theme that was clear is that science
increasingly depends on systems thinking and learning, multimodal data,
and multimodal measurements. The second key theme was that NIST has a
place and a part in teaching people about measurement science and
ensuring measurements are being conducted to get the best data out.
During these early stages of discussion, three possible areas for
growth were identified in vertical capabilities, meaning associated
with specific disciplines: bioscience; quantum science; and IoT. In
horizontal capabilities, meaning cross-cutting areas, potential areas
for growth include data science and artificial intelligence and
systems-level thinking and modeling.
NIST's opportunities for impact are inescapably tied to the
Institute's mission and historic role. NIST's future must build on a
solid foundation of technical expertise and stakeholder engagement.
Since its founding in 1901, NIST has been known as ``Industry's
National Laboratory,'' dedicated to supporting U.S. competitiveness. To
continue to be the bedrock of innovation in the U.S., NIST must grow
new capabilities over the next decade. With investments in emerging key
areas coupled with continued dedication to areas of traditional
expertise and contribution, NIST will ensure impact in the coming
decades.
NIST's current priorities--including manufacturing, technology
transfer, cybersecurity, quantum technologies, and disaster
resilience--will continue to align with national imperatives for the
decades to come. The manufacturing sector will continue to be a driving
force of innovation and productivity for the U.S. economy.
Transitioning technologies effectively from laboratory to market is the
seed corn for our innovation economy as well as entrepreneurship. The
need for strong and practical cybersecurity approaches are growing
rapidly as digital systems integrate into more of our lives and
commerce. The very real hazards of natural disasters must be addressed
through effective standards and technologies, and America's built
infrastructure and communities must be able to withstand and recover
from those events. Quantum-based devices, communications and
cryptography hold great promise for the U.S. and for the future of
measurements and standards, and our Nation must be positioned to
address market, technology and cyber threats from others in this
domain. While the NIST strategic priorities will not change, they will
be influenced by new and rapidly evolving technologies.
To extend its reach and amplify its influence, NIST will work with
stakeholders within the Institute, across government, in industry and
academia on the opportunities with greatest impact potential for the
Nation. These interdisciplinary areas--or themes--are at the forefront
of science and technology, and will therefore require the collective
talent and ingenuity of researchers and leaders across the NIST
laboratories.
Theme 1: Provide a foundation of trust in new industries
Enabling the future bioeconomy. As proof-of-concept
laboratory work in engineering biology meets the market
realities of bringing lab science into commercial introduction,
there are questions about how to compare biological products,
measure whether desired outcomes are realized, and optimize
biological systems for desired behaviors. NIST will deliver
tools and standards to measure biological technologies,
outputs, and processes that will enhance economic sectors from
healthcare to manufacturing and beyond.
Unleashing the economic potential of IoT. Robust, secure,
and competitive technology advances in the Internet of Things
must be built on a solid foundation of measurement and
standards. NIST will develop new tools and approaches for IoT
systems security, establish technologies to relieve network
congestion and device interference, and facilitate greater
confidence in device interoperability.
Theme 2: Apply new technologies to revolutionize mission delivery
Enhancing mission-critical research through Artificial
Intelligence (AI) and data. NIST will develop resources and
expertise to apply AI, machine learning, and big data
techniques to measurement science, including curated datasets
to train and test AI systems, model AI behavior and compare AI
systems, as well as to apply AI to research efforts where big
data requires the application of advanced learning algorithms.
Revolutionizing commerce through quantum measurements. In
May, 2019, the International System of Units (SI) is slated to
be redefined with units based on fundamental constants of
nature, and NIST must lead in this transition to quantum
definitions. NIST will use its world-leading quantum science
expertise to develop physical reference standards and ``self-
calibrating'' sensors that will enable a world where
measurement devices are ubiquitous, reliable, and affordable.
NIST Campus Security (Section 113)
The legislation supports the Department's efforts to continue to
improve overall security. Security and safety begins with the
leadership of NIST, and I am ultimately responsible for the
organization's security and safety culture and performance. The
Department also continues to take steps to improve the physical
security at NIST. NIST, working with the Department, is committed to
improving the security culture at both NIST campuses. Let me highlight
the steps we have taken to ensure successful implementation of the
legislation's provisions.
The AICA authorized in the Department of Commerce Office of
Security (OSY) supervisory authority for law enforcement and site
security at NIST. OSY manages and implements all security, emergency
management, and threat investigations across the Department and its
thirteen bureaus and operating units.
Responsibility for security clearly does not rest solely with OSY.
Security is also directly related to safety at NIST. At NIST, I am
responsible for ensuring the security of the personnel, facilities,
property, information and assets in accordance with applicable laws,
regulations, Executive Orders, and directives. The Director of Security
is responsible for advising and assisting heads of operating units.
Thus, OSY and NIST mutually support one another to protect the
personnel, mission, information, and infrastructure at NIST's
facilities.
I am committed to a comprehensive assessment of the roles and
responsibilities of OSY and NIST at NIST's two campuses, in
Gaithersburg, MD, and Boulder, CO, as recommended in the GAO report.
Currently, OSY is charged with delivering integrated law enforcement
and security services and protection, while NIST is responsible for
ensuring the physical security of the buildings. In practice, this
means that NIST has primary responsibility for providing and
maintaining electronic locks, surveillance devices, and alarms at
NIST's campuses. NIST also is responsible for establishing local campus
security procedures, and the maintenance and management of the physical
security systems such as access control systems, intrusion detection
systems, identification badging, and other security and safety systems
designed to protect NIST assets.
In turn, OSY provides the security personnel to monitor security
cameras, undertake routine patrols of NIST's campuses and buildings,
and provide emergency assistance. It also oversees a contract guard
force that secures entry points to the campuses.
Scientific and Technical Collaborations (Section 202)
NIST hosts over 110 conferences a year with over 13,000 attendees
on our campus. The AICA enables streamlining of conferences at NIST and
is critical for not only conferences but for the promotion of
measurement science and technology transfer that is key to the NIST
mission.
In August of 2017, NIST participated in a Department of Commerce
pilot effort to review, change and streamline the conference pre-
approval process. One significant policy change that resulted from this
pilot effort was to now permit NIST to approve personnel to attend
conferences at which the costs to attend did not exceed $200,000, which
greatly facilitated the approval process.
NIST continues to evaluate conference attendance policies to ensure
that our scientists and engineers are able to provide their expertise
for the benefit of the U.S.; conference participation is critical for
scientific openness and effective technology transfer.
NIST Education and Outreach (Section 306)
To further support NIST's efforts in promoting science and
technology, NIST has already begun using the authority conferred under
the AICA to support the mission of NIST and broaden the public's
awareness and understanding of measurement science.
Promoting Public Awareness of Measurement Science: NIST is
producing a series of special reports on the worldwide consensus plan
to redefine four of the seven basic units of measurement in the SI and
we are funding a documentary film to help explain the case for
redefinition.
Hiring Authority: The new hiring authority in AICA gives NIST the
opportunity to broaden its hiring processes. NIST is working with OPM
to obtain critical pay authority for NIST Fellows and has submitted a
formal request to institute this process. This request was submitted in
November of 2016 and is pending approval.
STEM Undergraduate Experiences (Section 309)
NIST has a long history of supporting the STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) career paths and growing the
next generation of young scientists. The NIST Summer Undergraduate
Research Fellowship (SURF) Program is designed to inspire undergraduate
students from across the country to pursue careers in STEM through a
unique research experience that supports the NIST mission. SURF
students from across the country have the opportunity to gain valuable,
hands-on experience, working with cutting edge technology in one of the
world's leading research organizations and home to three Nobel Prize
winners.
Over the course of 11 weeks, SURF students at NIST contribute to
the ongoing research of one of the seven NIST labs in Gaithersburg and
Boulder. SURF provides opportunities for undergraduates to engage in
hands-on research pertaining to the NIST mission under the guidance of
a NIST scientist or engineer. To date 2,600 undergraduates have
participated in the program from U.S. institutions of higher education
including Puerto Rico and last summer NIST hosted 213 students.
Prize Competition, Crowdsourcing Authority (Sections 401 and 402)
To tackle ambitious problems in support of the NIST mission, NIST
has long used challenges to bring a community together. In the early
1970s, for example, NIST issued a public challenge to develop a data
encryption standard to support computer security.
NIST continues to use challenges to incentivize action around
important technical issues. For example, NIST's Global City Teams
Challenge (GCTC) provides a collaborative platform for local
governments, non-profits, academic institutions, and corporations to
form project teams in areas such as smart and secure cities and
communities.
The Federal Government, and NIST's, use of prizes has ramped up
significantly in recent years, in part due to explicit legal
authorities, expanded under the AICA, to conduct cash and non-cash
prize competitions. In addition to providing the explicit authority to
offer cash prizes to winners, this authority allows Federal agencies to
partner with private sector, for-profit and nonprofit entities.
Since 2015, NIST has launched eleven prize competitions, all of
which are posted on challenge.gov. The topics of these competitions
range from the development of advanced materials that better absorb
impacts such as those experienced by athletes and the warfighter, to
the development of software applications using NIST scientific data, to
new virtual reality environments for heads-up displays that can be worn
by first responders. The last of these is part of a larger open
innovation program housed in NIST's Public Safety Communications
Research division (PSCR) of the Communications Technology Laboratory in
Boulder, CO. PSCR is focusing on key areas for technology acceleration
through prize competitions including location based services and
enhanced user interfaces for the increased effectiveness of deployed
technologies.
As we continue to build our experience in prize competitions, we
are finding new opportunities to use this mechanism to further our
mission. The NIST Program Coordination Office is a focal point for
Institute-wide activity in prize competitions: they serve as the White
House point of contact for NIST's prize activities, convene a Community
of Interest in Prizes and Challenges that allows staff to share lessons
learned and best practices and host an internal website with resources
for any staff interested in learning more about using prize
competitions.
NIST benefits greatly from the resources provided by the General
Services Administration under the AICA. NIST posts all its prize
opportunities on the GSA website challenge.gov, and has used the GSA's
free platform to host several of our prize competitions. Challenge.gov
provides additional valuable content and background about this topic at
https://www.challenge.gov/toolkit/, which includes some content
provided by NIST to be shared among the community.
Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science: The authority in this Act for
agencies to conduct crowdsourcing and citizen science activities is
also of interest to NIST. NIST has a history of citizen science
activities that includes decades-long high-frequency radio wave
propagation reports for NIST radio station WWV, which broadcasts time
and frequency information 24 hours per day, 7 days per week to millions
of listeners worldwide from Boulder, Colorado. We are exploring the
potential to further amplify the Institute's programmatic goals using
the AICA authority.
MEP Program Updates (Section 501)
Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)
With Centers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico dedicated to serving
small and medium-sized manufacturers, MEP has instituted the
programmatic modifications authorized in the bill.
Cost-Share: The Act changed the non-federal/federal cost sharing
ratio for MEP Centers from a 2:1 minimum matching ratio to a 1:1 ratio.
As a result, MEP Centers have increased partnering opportunities with
manufacturers.
Re-competition: Another important change contained in the AICA
required Centers to undergo a re-competition after ten years of
consecutive funding. Prior to the AICA, some Centers had not been
competed since their initial funding. The re-competitions for all
Centers that were not competed in the past 10 years were by April of
2017. Surveys for Center project impacts go out one year after project
completion, so the full network of Centers will have initial survey
results of the impact of the re-competition in Spring 2019.
Evaluations: The AICA provided clear guidance on Center
evaluations. Under the legislation, a Center is to undergo a peer
evaluation during its third and eighth-year of operation with a
Secretarial review at year five, which used by NIST in determining
whether a Center's performance merits continued NIST funding. MEP has
instituted new processes by which these evaluations, known as Panel
Reviews and Secretarial Reviews, are conducted. MEP is now piloting the
new process for Centers which have entered their third year of
operations.
Advisory Board: The MEP Advisory Board provides guidance and
assesses the overall performance of the Program. Under AICA, the
membership of the Board was updated to require no fewer than 10 members
with at least one community college representative, allowing MEP to
increase the size of the Board and broaden its geographical reach and
membership expertise. Following the passage of the AICA, MEP added ten
new members to expand the Board and to replace members whose terms had
expired. The AICA also instituted several changes to the Center
Oversight Boards regarding membership, composition, term limits and
conflicts of interest policies. These have been incorporated in the
General Terms and Conditions of each Center's cooperative agreement.
Competitive Awards: The legislation also clarified the criteria to
make special competitive awards. These awards allow Centers in good
standing to receive additional funds based on the availability of
funding for projects outside the scope of their base award.
Conclusion
NIST is proud of the positive impact it has had and of the
improvements we have been able to make with the AICA authorization.
NIST maintains its longstanding commitment to advancing measurement
science in order further innovation and increase the competitiveness of
U.S. industry. NIST's broad technical portfolio positions the agency to
contribute productively and rapidly to emerging national needs. With
NIST's dedicated technical staff, one-of-a-kind facilities, and
objective, non-regulatory role we are well positioned to have an
outsized impact on the U.S. economy, quality of life, and national
security. With the continued support of this Committee, NIST will
continue to thrive in its important mission to promote U.S. innovation
and industrial competitiveness.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify on NIST's implementation
of AICA. I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have.
______
Walter G. Copan, PhD., Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and
Technology, and NIST Director
Dr. Walter G. Copan was confirmed by Congress as Under Secretary of
Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director on October 5,
2017.
As NIST Director, Dr. Copan provides high-level oversight and
direction for NIST.
He has had a distinguished and diverse career as a science and
technology executive in large and small corporations, U.S. Government,
nonprofit and other public-sector settings.
Dr. Copan formerly served as president and CEO of the IP
Engineering Group Corporation, providing services in intellectual
property strategy, technology commercialization and innovation. Until
June 2017, he was founding CEO and Chairman of Impact Engineered Wood
Corporation, an advanced materials technology company. He also is a
founding board member of Rocky Mountain Innovation Partners, where he
led technology transfer programs and innovation services on behalf of
the U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Federal labs and academic institutions
and helped foster entrepreneurial businesses in the Rocky Mountain
West. He also served with the National Advisory Council to the Federal
Laboratory Consortium for more than 5 years, providing industry inputs
to advance the U.S. economic impacts of the Federal laboratory system.
From 2010-2013, Dr. Copan served as managing director of Technology
Commercialization and Partnerships at DOE's Brookhaven National
Laboratory (BNL). Among his accomplishments were leading the creation
and implementation of the new DOE technology transfer mechanism,
``Agreement for Commercializing Technology'' (ACT), to facilitate
collaborations between the Federal labs and U.S. corporations. He led
the ``Startup America'' initiative on behalf of DOE for entrepreneurial
business creation, and he initiated the DOE's new Small Business
Innovation Research--Technology Transfer (SBIR-TT) program, which built
upon the experiences of NIST. He served as founding partner and board
member of the ``Accelerate Long Island'' alliance for innovation,
economic development and early stage investment.
From 2005-2010, Dr. Copan was executive vice president and chief
technology officer at Clean Diesel Technologies, Inc., an international
technology development and licensing firm. He spearheaded the company's
transformation, growth and listing on NASDAQ (CDTI), as well as the
company's subsequent merger. Prior to joining CDTI, Dr. Copan served at
the DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) as Principal
Licensing Executive, Technology Transfer. There, he led organizational
changes that strengthened relationships with industry and the
investment community, and led to the more productive commercialization
of energy-related technologies.
After earning dual B.S./B.A. degrees in chemistry and music from
Case Western Reserve University in 1975, Dr. Copan began his career in
chemicals and materials research at the Lubrizol Corporation (now part
of the Berkshire Hathaway Group). He earned a Ph.D. in physical
chemistry from Case Western in 1982, and subsequently held leadership
positions at Lubrizol in research and development, strategy, business
unit management, venture capital, and mergers, acquisitions and
strategic alliances in the U.S. and abroad. As managing director,
Technology Transfer and Licensing, from 1999-2003, he was responsible
for Lubrizol's corporate venturing and open innovation, technology
strategy, business development, intellectual assets and the technology
licensing business.
Dr. Copan is a patent holder, has authored numerous professional
publications and presentations, and has served on the boards of many
organizations, including the Licensing Executives Society (LES) USA and
Canada, where he recently served as regional vice president for LES
USA. He has contributed to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the
Council on Competitiveness, the World Intellectual Property
Organization and the United Nations on innovation, technology transfer,
energy and economic development matters.
Senator Gardner. Thank you, Dr. Copan.
And I would ask unanimous consent to insert into the record
a letter to Senators Thune and Nelson from the Office of
Science and Technology Policy.
Without objection.
[The information referred to follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Gardner. Dr. Cordova, you mentioned LIGO. I had the
opportunity two months ago to visit a company, a business in
Boulder, Colorado, called High Precision Devices, very, very
much involved in the development and the research done to reach
the incredible work they did with the LIGO project. And we
talked about a number of other work that they were doing there,
a number of other projects that they were undertaking there,
including the calibration for MRIs and how you can get the most
data out of an MRI and what to do, a lot of it funded through
NSF. NSF is responsible for about, if I'm correct, about 20
percent of our Nation's federally funded research. Is that a
good ballpark figure?
Dr. Cordova. I think we like to claim a little higher,
about 27 percent.
Senator Gardner. About 27 percent. Very good, very good.
And so could you--27 percent. Does NIST have the other 73
percent? There is no other function, though, really, like NSF
that gets dollars out into the community, is that correct?
Dr. Cordova. Well, the thing about NSF, it's so broad, its
spectrum of what it funds all the way from computer science,
social and behavioral sciences, the physics, chemistry, math,
it has got a very, very broad portfolio, whereas other, most
other agencies are just specifically on health, for example, or
space or energy. So it's really--it's really the breadth of it.
In computer science, for example, we fund 83 percent of the
academic research that's funded in the entire Nation, 83
percent.
Senator Gardner. And that's pretty incredible. So, you
know, when it comes to funding issues, 83 percent of the work
being done in computer science, and when you talk to anybody in
industry, when you talk to somebodhuy in, you know, Silicon
Valley, when you talk to somebody in Boulder, Colorado, they
talk about the need for additional computer scientists and
majors, and so that's why it's so important to get this right
from a funding perspective.
Dr. Cordova, a follow up. NSF was not charged with the
basic responsibility of coming up with how to reduce the
burden, the regulatory or administrative burden, on some of the
grants that are out there. I believe OSTP was, and that work
continues there.
When we had our roundtables, we heard from researchers, who
talked about as much as 42 percent of their time filling out
administrative paperwork and complying with government
regulations, 42 percent of their dollars would go to that kind
of overhead. In the bill, we directed OMB and OSTP to come up
with ways to reduce these burdens.
You've not been tasked with this yourself, but could you
talk about some of the ways that you think would help benefit
OMB and OSTP will head when it comes to reducing the burdens
that researchers face and how NSF can work to make sure those
dollars are spent more efficiently on the science itself?
Dr. Cordova. Yes. You mentioned the National Science Board
in your remarks. And the National Science Board had a task
force on administrative burden a couple of years ago, and they
identified a number of ways in their report that NSF could help
out the research community. And we've been implementing a
number of those recommendations, and, of course, we have our
own internal groups on administrative burden.
Part of our effort we call ``Renewing NSF'' is focused on
streamlining all our processes and our practices. And we're
starting with the merit review practice, which, as you know,
that's the heart of NSF, that's what we do, is we get money out
through the merit review process to the community. And we
figure if we can streamline that process and make it more
effective, then we will reduce the burden on proposers by
having the proposals process look the same no matter where
you're applying through NSF, have more standardized
solicitations, more regular kinds of deadline requirements, and
so forth.
So, yes, we can do our part. And then this is something
that everybody can take a part in Congress and the universities
themselves in streamlining processes. I was at one time a
researcher at the university, and I know all about the 40
percent administrative burden in filling out paperwork, so I'm
a very sympathetic player here.
Senator Gardner. Thank you, Dr. Cordova.
Dr. Copan, when you had your confirmation hearing, we
talked a lot about commercialization, which is also an integral
part of the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act. Could
you talk a little bit about the commercialization efforts that
you've undertaken at NIST since you've been there?
Dr. Copan. Absolutely. And as someone who has worked in
this field for many years, this is a passion that I bring to
NIST as well as to the Federal sector as a whole.
As we've been comparing notes with the National Science
Foundation, we've been utilizing common practices and sharing
practices across the Federal sector. And as we also now look to
the future to the implementation of the review that I described
at my confirmation hearing, the opportunity to enhance return
on investment from the United States investment in science and
technology is a great opportunity for this Nation.
The Bayh-Dole Act has served the Nation well, Stevenson-
Wydler has in addition, but we continue to hear from both
practitioners as well as from industry. There are opportunities
to do it better. And so during the time that I am with NIST, we
will be expanding our review of Federal technology transfer and
seeking ways to reduce the administrative burden and some of
the unintended barriers to bringing commercialization from the
laboratory into the commercial marketplace for this Nation's
benefit.
Senator Gardner. Thanks.
Senator Peters.
Senator Peters. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Actually, I want
to pick up on those thoughts on commercialization because I've
been hearing this a great deal as I've been out talking to
folks. It certainly was a critical part of our legislation as
well. And there certainly is significant challenge for these
ideas to cross the valley of death to actually become companies
going forward.
Dr. Cordova, you mentioned the I-Corps program as being
extremely successful, and, of course, we expanded that in this
legislation. And I can speak from experience from one of my
universities. We have many great ones in Michigan, but the
University of Michigan in particular is home to one of the
seven I-Corps nodes and for years I think has been quite an
example of how you bridge that valley.
Dr. Cordova, could you provide a little bit more detail as
to the mechanics of how NSF is going to be collaborating with
other agencies, like the Department of Energy, NASA, and even
the Department of Defense going forward?
Dr. Cordova. I-Corps is a very structured program that
includes mentorship and entrepreneurship, the academic
component, and, of course, the student practitioners, graduate
and undergraduate students. And it has a very well-defined
curriculum that it takes the students through, and then there's
the partnership aspect, and then there is the business aspect
going out and making the calls to the marketplace widely to see
if the research or discovery of interest has any market
potential. So they learn all of that in this structured way.
And it takes this whole environment to kind of get them the
wherewithal and to rev up this whole process of learning and
understanding what market potential really means.
So that's a process that others have copied--they utilize
our processes and our people, and they've learned how we do
this, how we do this course of instruction and engagement; and
we are the ones that help them out. So, our folks that do this
with the nodes, the eight nodes, around the country and all the
sites, are then loaned, as it were, to these other agencies to
make sure that they have the same kinds of approaches. And then
they take off, they learn it, as it were, of course,
themselves, and then they can replicate it and do it. And
that's how we build scale into the program because, as you
know, scale in these kinds of things that are human endeavors
are the most difficult things to achieve.
And so the only way we can achieve really a great scale on
the Innovation Corps is to be teaching this to others so that
they in turn can teach it. And so that's what's happening.
We've done that course in Mexico and in Ireland and in the
State of Ohio, which is now I think in its third year of doing
it.
Senator Peters. Right. Thank you.
I want to comment on the other program that you mentioned
as well in your testimony, is the MEP program, Manufacturing
Extension Partnership. I've just seen great success with that
in Michigan, particularly helping small to medium-size
manufacturers leverage what they do so well, but do it in a way
even better as a result of that program.
If you could talk a little bit about the cost share and
also the success of that program and why we really need to
continue to fund it and the fact that it really--it has really
measurable results that we should all be proud of.
Dr. Copan. Thank you, Senator Peters. As Secretary Ross had
also testified, the MEP is a program that has delivered success
for the country, and I believe that the statistics for return
on investment to the U.S. taxpayer have been well publicized
and have been experienced state by state, including in the
State of Michigan.
We have benefited, I believe, from the change to the cost
share model. All of the centers across the Nation have shifted
to the new guidance, and we have seen greater leverage from the
outreach from each of the MEP centers nationwide.
In addition to programs like that, we've also focused on
the resilience of the U.S. manufacturing infrastructure in the
wake of the hurricanes that affected Puerto Rico and the Gulf
border states. We have seen the MEP program step up to help the
small manufacturers restart their business operations through
the direct engagement of the MEP centers. So not only is it
enabling U.S. industry, but certainly we've seen it as a
program that's important to keep America strong in the wake of
natural disasters.
Senator Peters. Great. Thank you.
Senator Gardner. Senator Cortez Masto.
STATEMENT OF HON. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEVADA
Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you.
First of all, let me just say I wasn't here the time you
passed the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act, but----
Senator Gardner. It was a wonderful time.
Senator Cortez Masto. I want to thank both of you. I mean,
it really is good legislation and it has a positive impact in
our communities in the country, so thank you for that.
Senator Gardner. Thank you.
Senator Cortez Masto. And thank you, both of you, for being
here.
Dr. Cordova, I'd like to start with you. I am a proud
supporter of broadening opportunities in STEM fields for
minorities and women. That's why I introduced the Code Like A
Girl Act, which is supported by groups like our Girl Scouts, to
further promote efforts to engage young girls in computer
science and hopefully provide the role models and exposure to
make the estimated millions of unfilled STEM jobs an option for
everyone.
I know, Dr. Cordova, you obviously are one of those
incredible role models, as I've looked at your background, and
while we are talking about this, however, and the need for it,
and we are making advancements, just last November, GAO
documented that from 2005 to 2015, they found that no growth
occurred for female workers in technology.
So would you agree, is there more work that can be done
really to get young women exposed and motivated and energized
in these fields? And if you would, talk a little bit about how
we can do just that.
Dr. Cordova. Yes, absolutely, that's kind of a shocking
statistic. There's just enormous potential out there, and we
really need it. I mean, just hearkening back to Senator
Gardner's remarks about the recent science and engineering
indicators report: We have a lot of other countries that are
making faster progress than we are, and we really need to, for
many reasons, including that one, turn to the talent pool that
is right here all around us and develop that for our country's
future.
So NSF has been involved in all disciplines, including, of
course, computer science, in promoting the advancement of--
well, in broadening participation in general and promoting the
advancement of women and underrepresented minorities in
particular.
And I just want to mention two programs really quickly and
then go to computer science.
We've had for a long time the ADVANCE program, which is to
promote women in universities to engage them in joining
universities' professorships and then assure that they stay,
they're sustained, and then achieve higher levels. And I myself
was a PI for the ADVANCE grant at Purdue, and so like--love--
the program.
And more recently, we've initiated a program called
INCLUDES, which is really addressed to bringing in everyone in
the Nation to giving them more access to STEM careers and with
a particular focus on women and, again, underrepresented
minorities.
We are funding currently 70, 69, INCLUDES pilot programs
all across the Nation, which are really community groups
comprising universities and civic organizations, community
colleges, in some cases, the state itself, in furthering
opportunities, and many of those INCLUDES grants have to do
with computer science in a number of states, and I can give you
a list of those.
And more specific to computing, we have a program called
Computer Science For All, which is to make sure that teachers
have the preparation they need because, after all, going back
to my remarks about scaling, in order to really scale
something, you have to train the trainers and so forth. This
has to go forward through other people.
So this effort combines professional development
opportunities for teachers at all grade levels together with
research studies at the pre-K to 8 level that will focus on how
to integrate computer science and computational thinking into
their classrooms.
And I have any number of examples which I could send you
subsequently, Senator, about specific examples of computer
science programs that we're funding that are making a real
difference, I think, that are directed towards increasing women
and underrepresented minorities, and we have the data to show
that they are making the difference.
Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you. And so I'm glad you
highlighted that because I know particularly in Nevada as well,
UNR is a recipient and works with you and include a program;
our community colleges are HSIs, Hispanic-serving institutions,
work closely. So thank you. I think there is a benefit to the
funding and the support of really targeted in this area and
working with our colleges and our universities.
At the same time, you also focused on the last question I
had with the metrics. I think it's so important that not only
as we put the money in here and we're working very hard to open
this door, that we are collecting data and the metrics to show
that it is having the positive impact or the intended impact
that we are focused on through this Act. So thank you very
much.
I ran out of time, Mr. Copan, so I didn't get a chance to
ask you questions, but I'll submit those for the record.
Thank you very much for being here.
Dr. Copan. Thank you so much.
Senator Gardner. If you don't mind, we'll also go another
round, so you're welcome to stay, Senator. I know we all have
busy schedules and other committees, so if you have to leave,
we'll take it for the record.
But I would just say that this was a great effort by the
Committee, as a team, to pass this bill. In fact, I think there
were three times a year ago that it was written that the bill
had died and would never be passed by the House.
[Laughter.]
Senator Gardner. It was the bill that kept coming back to
life. And I think it was finally signed--Senator Peters and I
thought that this bill would go down in history as the last
bill signed by President Obama before the inauguration.
Unfortunately, I've been told that there may have been a bill
he signed on the last day he was in office, so we will forever
be lost in history as the third or fourth last bill to ever be
signed by the President, but a great accomplishment I think in
terms of making sure that we're growing the bipartisan support
for science.
Dr. Cordova, this morning I had a chance to meet with some
people about investment in science by China, and we were
talking about the overall--I think the U.S. basically
contributes about .7 percent of our GDP toward research and
development. And this group thought it would be in our best
interest if we could grow that number to 2 percent of GDP that
the Federal Government would contribute towards research and
development. What would happen in terms of our research and
development opportunities if we were to hit that level and to
greatly expand our research to something like 2 percent of GDP?
Dr. Cordova. I think you have to break down research and
development into its components of basic research and applied
research and development. I think development has a lot of
investment in it, especially by the business community, they're
the dominant players. And so where I think the emphasis is or
should be from our point of view is on really growing
investment in basic research because that's at the root of
technology and tech transfer, and that's why we work so closely
with NIST in going to the next level to the more applied
research and then eventually then business takes it over into
development.
It would be transformational to grow the basic research
budget. I mean, look at all the things we have, some of which
you all have mentioned. I know Senator Peters was recently at
the auto car show in Washington, D.C., and there is the
artificial intelligence that's being used in autonomous
vehicles, self-driving cars, much of it is NSF-funded, and
that's just one segment of society. There's the medical, and
you mentioned MRI machines. That was also from NSF-funded
discoveries. Gene editing was mentioned. The very first grants
in gene editing were from the National Science Foundation
because before something can be applied, it has to be
discovered, it has to be new knowledge, and that's where we
come in.
So in all things, if you come to our new building in
Alexandria, you see--the first thing you see is a giant wall
that looks to me like it's 100 feet long, I'm sure I'm
exaggerating, it's probably more like 30 or 40 feet long, but
it's a painting, original painting, of all the different
discoveries and impacts, the really big ones, that NSF has
made. And somewhere in the middle there is Google because we
funded the original founders of Google, as you know.
And I mentioned all the companies that have been created
just in the last few years with investments in the Innovation
Corps program. So thinking about doubling or quadrupling that,
as you've suggested, would be, I mean, just tremendous
horsepower for the Nation.
And if you want, as a country, to stay ahead, if we want to
continue to be first, and we're looking over our shoulders, and
as you said, seeing China and other countries coming up faster
and faster behind us where before they used to be way behind,
then we're just--we're going to have to be smarter, we're going
to have to invest in and broaden the participation of more of
our own youth, women, to be a part of STEM, and we're going to
have to step up our investments in basic research so that these
kinds of discoveries, ones that I said are the breakthroughs of
the year for the last 2 years, have been NSF-funded basic
research discoveries.
We talked about LIGO, and those are--for those of you who
have seen pictures of it--they're really long tubes, 4
kilometers long, in different directions. Those tubes are not
empty, they're full of the most sophisticated kind of
engineering devices that are on this planet, you know,
inventions that are unbelievable. And the transfer, the tech
transfer, of that kind of invention that suspends the mirrors
and they can detect something that moves the distance of a
thousandth of the diameter of a proton; that is absolutely
amazing: what that is going to do for the country when that's
translated out. So the future is ours, but we have to seize it
and invest in it.
Senator Gardner. Thank you, Dr. Cordova.
And I know the Chairman of the Full Committee is here,
Senator Thune.
I'll turn it over to you.
STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN THUNE,
U.S. SENATOR FROM SOUTH DAKOTA
The Chairman. Thank you, Senator Gardner, for presiding
over today's hearing on the American Innovation and
Competitiveness Act, or AICA, which we introduced and enacted
last year along with Senators Peters and Nelson. So I'm pleased
that NSF, NIST, and OSTP have made real progress in
implementing the bill.
Dr. Cordova and Copan, I also want to--I should say
``Doctors'' plural--I also want to thank you for being here
today. I think it's probably the first time that you each have
testified in front of this Committee in your new position.
Dr. Cordova. Yes.
The Chairman. Is that correct?
AICA represents, as you know, the most comprehensive
science and technology policy legislation enacted since the
America COMPETES Act in 2007 and 2010, and like those Acts, it
reauthorized and updated policies at NSF, NIST, OSTP, and other
Federal science agencies. Specifically AICA sought to maximize
basic research, advance public-private partnerships, enhance
agency oversight, promote STEM education, and increase research
commercialization.
In my home state of South Dakota, AICA provided further
support for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment and the
Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility at the Sanford Underground
Research Facility by tasking OSTP with new responsibilities
related to the prioritization and coordination of high energy
physics research and international science and technology
partnerships. It also updated the Established Program to
Stimulate Competitive Research, or EPSCoR, which assists South
Dakota in maintaining a self-sustaining and competitive
academic research enterprise.
The Act required updates based on recommendations of
previous EPSCoR reviews to maximize the impact of Federal
support for building a competitive research infrastructure
across all states. So I want to again thank you for the
progress that you have made in implementing the legislation.
And I do have a couple of very quick implementation
questions I'd like to ask. One deals with how AICA prioritized
cybersecurity standards and research at NIST and NSF, including
NIST research for future cybersecurity needs, like quantum
computing, and NSF-sponsored research into the role of human
factors in cybersecurity.
This Committee has also advanced other bills and laws this
year that address the issue of cybersecurity, including the
MAIN STREET Cybersecurity Act to facilitate the use of NIST's
cybersecurity framework by small businesses, and the
Cybersecurity Scholarship Opportunities Act to update NSF's
CyberCorps Scholarship for Federal Service program, a program,
which I might add, Dakota State University of Madison, South
Dakota, is the largest participant in, in terms of supported
students.
So the question is, if you could highlight how your
agencies have and will continue to advance work in the critical
area of cybersecurity, aligned with AICA, and how you see your
role in partnering with educational institutions like DSU?
Dr. Copan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The opportunity to
discuss cybersecurity is very near and dear to my heart with
the role that NIST plays in the leadership of cybersecurity and
the development of the cybersecurity framework, which has been
transformative for this Nation. Also in the Cybersecurity
Framework's implementation in government as well as broad
penetration through U.S. industry all the way through to the
Department of Defense supply chain through small business and
through the support that's provided throughout the NIST
programs.
We see that the scientific integrity that underpins the
development of cryptography and also post-quantum cryptography
is an important area of ongoing research at NIST. As we look at
the future integrity of our systems, we also look to the
implementation of blockchain technologies more broadly than in
crypto currencies. And NIST has recently issued a report
highlighting some of the implications of blockchain
technologies, which I believe this Committee will be hearing
more about in the days and weeks to come.
The Framework is an essential element of our programs and
so is Cybersecurity education which will enable the next
generation of scientists and engineers to be prepared for
careers in cybersecurity and cryptography research.
Thank you.
Dr. Cordova. Chairman Thune, I'll add just a bit. We
appreciate the leadership that you and this Committee have
shown on this very important issue. NSF also is committed to
strengthening cybersecurity education. And the CyberCorps
program has been successful to date.
You mentioned Dakota State University near Sioux Falls.
It's one of the 13 Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber
Operations, as designated by the NSA, and NSF has a partnership
with it.
The focus on cybersecurity education has also resulted in
the school receiving a very generous gift from private
industry, which is further leveraging these efforts.
NSF was pleased to respond to the requirements of the Cyber
Scholarship Opportunities Act, which expands CyberCorps'
scholarship availability to community college students, and
this is very important. As you know, we've had the CyberCorps
Program Scholarships for Service for a long time, and that--the
aim of that program is to develop a well-educated cybersecurity
workforce for the government. It gives students up to 3 years
scholarship in return for their service to the Federal
Government, state, or local, or tribal government.
At this point, there are 14 collaborations between
community colleges and four-year institutions that we funded.
And in addition, the Cyber Scholarship Opportunities Act
codifies the CyberCorps K-12 education program called
``Inspiring the Next Generation of Cyber Stars.'' The GenCyber
summer camps--I wish I had been able to go to such a camp, it
sounds great--helps to seed the interests of young people in
this exciting and exploding field.
The Chairman. Right. Now, Senator Gardner would have liked
to have gone to some of those camps, too, but he was----
[Laughter.]
The Chairman.--probably busy doing--no, I'm kidding.
Senator Gardner. Exactly.
The Chairman. You were very busy. Yes.
I have one other question that I can submit for the record,
Mr. Chairman, but I appreciate again your efforts to
implement--and I guess I'm supposed to call it AICA. There's an
acronym for everything around, you try to summarize it, yes,
but, OK. All right. Thank you.
Senator Gardner. Thanks, Senator Thune.
Senator Hassan.
STATEMENT OF HON. MAGGIE HASSAN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE
Senator Hassan. Thank you, Senator Gardner.
And to Chairman Thune and Ranking Member Nelson, I'm very
grateful to both of them for this important hearing.
And thank you to both of our witnesses for being here
today.
Before I get into my questions, I just did want to point
out that it's my understanding that the Committee had hoped to
have someone from the Office of Science and Technology Policy,
OSTP, join us as a witness today. However, because there still
has been no one appointed to head the office, OSTP is not able
to join us. I've called on the President to make OSTP a
priority, as science and innovation are the keys to unlocking
our Nation's economy and spurring U.S. global competitiveness.
So I've written to the President about this topic several
times. I just would like to register my disappointment that no
action has been taken to fill this very critical role.
As to questions for the panel, to both of you, some
politicians, most of whom have no scientific training or
background, have targeted federally funded research in science
for funding cuts. But federally funded research has resulted in
breakthroughs that have saved lives, prevented disease, and
saved citizens, businesses, and taxpayers significant amounts
of money.
For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture research
made it possible to effectively eradicate the screwworm that
was killing off our Nation's cattle supply. This saved the U.S.
cattle industry billions of dollars over the last 50 years.
Today, that same research is being used to investigate methods
to control Zika-carrying mosquitoes. This underscores the
importance of funding studies into various issues, as we just
don't know when this research will come in handy to save lives
and money.
So how are your agencies looking to balance the need for
fiscal responsibility with the need to fund various types of
research?
And, Dr. Cordova, I'd love to start with you.
Dr. Cordova. How are we doing more with less? Is that----
Senator Hassan. Or how are you balancing and where would
you like more?
Dr. Cordova. So we're always looking for efficiencies. In
fact, today we had a town hall on this subject called
``Renewing NSF,'' and we identified four ways going forward to
look for efficiencies, upping our IT game, fitting the
workforce better to the work through training programs,
streamlining our processes and practices, especially starting
with the merit review practice, and looking even further to
more partnerships to leverage what we do so we can do more, and
also leveraging--our partnerships has the added effect of just
bringing more people in and engaging them in our furthering the
progress of science.
So, but ultimately it really devolves to making priorities
about what--you know, what you're going to do with the funds
that you have. And so we do that in a couple of different ways.
We have a bottoms-up approach, which is the community, through
decadal reports of the National Academy of Science and
Engineering and Medicine, we get input from the communities. We
also get it from our advisory committees, and we get it from
individuals and crowdsourcing and all.
And then we have a more top-down approach where we have
congressional, administrative, and senior leadership
priorities, and we bring those all together and devise
constantly a continuing strategic plan on where the country is
going--what's important to invest in.
So let me just give you one example----
Senator Hassan. You know, I'm sorry, but I only have about
2 minutes left.
Dr. Cordova. OK, sure. Of course.
Senator Hassan. And I want to give Dr. Copan a chance.
Dr. Copan. Sure. Thank you very much. The budget balance is
always a challenge, and it's also an opportunity. And I think,
as Dr. Cordova has said, it's an opportunity to gain greater
efficiencies and greater leverage within the Federal sector,
working more effectively with the private sector, and across
the Federal enterprise to identify opportunities that will
really make a difference for this Nation.
We have gone through, and the AICA has been an important
spur to NIST in revitalizing our strategic planning process and
looking at the impact of critical programs and looking at
cross-disciplinary leverage across our organization because,
indeed, NIST touches every facet of the U.S. economy.
Senator Hassan. Right.
Dr. Copan. And so it's really our goal, as we look at those
strategic thrust areas that we identify that are cross-cutting,
that they will leverage, they will build upon the shoulders of
the great research that we're doing now, and will be able to
have cascading effects into the economy.
Senator Hassan. Well, OK. Thank you very much. That's
helpful.
I have just 50 seconds, and I want to ask I think a quick
question. I know Senator Gardner noted that the Federal
Government has been spending less as a portion of its GDP on
research and development. And while our investment levels are
relatively low, other countries, like China, are spending more
on R&D and making great strides in innovation.
So how important is Federal investment to maintaining
global leadership when it comes to new technologies and
innovations? And should Federal R&D be considered a matter of
national security? Just briefly from both of you.
Dr. Copan, I'll start with you.
Dr. Copan. Investment in science and technology is critical
for the Nation's future, for our competitiveness. I believe
that we can be prudent about how we invest to gain maximum
benefit for the U.S. economy and to assure our leadership. We
see that we have to not only invest in fundamental research,
but, indeed, to translate that research into applications. The
critical role that NIST plays in standards takes what we learn
in our measurement research and how we apply that research to
the products and services of U.S. industries and that helps
maintain a level playing field for the U.S. in international
trade, which is a critical part of national and economic
security.
Senator Hassan. Well, thank you. I'm over time. I see--I'll
ask the question on the record, too, and look forward to your
response, Doctor.
Dr. Cordova. Thank you.
Senator Gardner. Thank you.
Senator Peters.
Senator Peters. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I think on the funding issue in the fact that when Senator
Gardner and I held all of those roundtables, the issue of money
came up quite a bit with each and every one of those
roundtables. But I think the real takeaway from it wasn't just
the increase in funding, although that's obviously very
important to the scientific enterprise, but the big part of it
was just to have some stability, to have an idea of what's
going to be coming in the years ahead so that you can make
plans.
So my question is to get a sense from how the fact that we
have been basically passing continuing resolutions, CRs, for
about 2, 3, 4 weeks at a time, whatever it may be, multiple
ones of those, that to me I know it's very difficult to manage
an organization 3 or 4 weeks at a time. I'm sure it's very
difficult for you to do that. And I would just like to get a
sense, given the fact that I'm actually--we're going to be
holding a hearing and working with Senator Rand Paul, the
Ranking Member on the Federal Spending Oversight Subcommittee,
and we're going to look at the impact of the short-term CRs on
the management of the business of government.
But I'll start with you, Dr. Cordova, and then, Dr. Copan,
if you could follow, what has it meant for you in managing your
organization as a result of the short-term CRs?
Dr. Cordova. Well, Senator, I think, as you're implying,
it's disruptive. So, for example, on the last pre-shutdown, of
course, we didn't know which way it was going to go, and so all
the senior leadership stopped work to plan just in case there
was a shutdown, of course. So we cancel meetings. We look at
all the travel that our own people have. There were 85 people
scheduled to travel that weekend, and they were all wondering,
``Should I travel or not?'' and we said, ``After midnight you
will know.'' And we had hundreds of people that were coming
from the outside to participate in the merit review process for
the next week. And so all of--when the shutdown actually
happened, we had to cancel all of that. We canceled 10 merit
review panels. Just for those who don't know, on any given day,
we have between 200 and 600 visitors who are part of the merit
review process, they're coming from other universities and
other establishments, foundations, and all to help evaluate the
proposals. And so all of that was canceled; it was disruptive
in their lives.
And so in preparing for next week, we learned some lessons,
so we'll smooth out--we'll have more meetings, of course, so
we're dropping other things. And tomorrow will be the start of
the first meeting to prepare for perhaps a post-February 8
shutdown. And just one example that I shared earlier with
Senator Peters, and this is only one out of hundreds, we had
the three Nobel Prize winners in physics this year who won the
prize for the discovery of gravitational waves all coming,
flying in, on February 8 to give a talk to reprise their Nobel
lectures for the NSF staff because they're so grateful to
having been funded for those decades, on February 9, and
they're asking us, ``Should we come?'' So that's just--because
they may come, and if we're shut down, then, of course, they
can't give their lectures, and we have to send them home, and
that's to California for two of them, and Boston for the third.
And so that's just one example out of hundreds of the kinds
of disruption, but everybody just basically stops work in order
to gear for shutdown and their further instructions.
Dr. Copan. I must echo some of those remarks in terms of
disruption to operations and travel. We have a lot of user
facility engagement at NIST that includes a small nuclear
reactor facility as our source for neutron research and
biological systems, biomolecules, and polymer systems, et
cetera. And so we had to go through an orderly process to deal
with visitors from across the Nation and from around the world
so that they would not lose the experiments in some cases that
they have been planning for months and, indeed, years.
So it is a challenging environment in which to manage. I
must say that there are lessons that have been learned as a
result of the process, and I believe that we will be able to
manage effectively as we deal with further uncertainties. But I
think that ultimately putting the U.S. science and technology
enterprise to work as quickly as possible and maintaining, as
you've indicated, the stability of the environment for research
so that we can look to the long-term impact onto the economy.
Senator Gardner. Thank you.
Senator Cortez Masto.
Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you.
Just one follow-up because, Dr. Copan, one of the concerns
I had, and we has this discussion last time, over
cybersecurity. And last time we had a conversation, and I know
through written questions I had asked you about working on the
critical need for engagement of cybersecurity support for our
small businesses. And I am just curious, can you talk about
what efforts you are putting in place since your confirmation
and maybe elaborate a little bit more on apparently the report
that was issued. Is that also something that should be given to
our small businesses as well so they can have that assistance?
Dr. Copan. Thank you, Senator. Cybersecurity is important
for corporations large and small, and small companies, as we've
seen reports, are the most vulnerable, and the probability is
high that those companies will no longer be in business as they
are victims of a cyber attack or breach. So it has been a high
priority for NIST.
The AICA authorization has been an important part of
supporting NIST's focus in this area. We've worked through our
advanced manufacturing institutes. We have worked using our
broad network of U.S. manufacturing focused on small to medium-
size enterprises providing cybersecurity training basically to
translate the cybersecurity framework into the language and the
format the small enterprises can utilize, and that has been a
process that has been hugely appreciated. It has also been part
of the Department of Defense supply chain readiness around
cybersecurity that has been a strong partnership between NIST,
the Department of Defense, and our U.S. manufacturing
infrastructure. We take that very seriously, and we know that
this is a challenging environment with threats that are
emerging and evolving. We've certainly seen evidence of that in
the press on a regular basis with threats to central
processors, for example.
And so we look forward to continuing to work in providing
information, even in the phase of a shutdown. The National
Vulnerability Database on cyber threats and the patches to be
implemented, and the testing processes behind those patches
have been maintained again in support of U.S. industry large
and small.
Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you. So I know in Nevada--and I
talk on a regular basis with our small businesses--this is one
of the issues--right?--because they don't have the resources
they need to really tackle cybersecurity, and they're looking
for additional resources. Is there something that you can
provide to me, some information, that I can give to them? So I
have a small business manual that I put out in the State of
Nevada for a lot of our chambers and our small businesses. Is
there--if my staff reaches out, can we get some information
that we can share with them that helps them address the
cybersecurity needs that they have?
Dr. Copan. Absolutely. We have materials, we have training.
And through our Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, we
have a Cybersecurity Excellence implementation framework for
companies, again, large and small, to utilize best practices
that are available, and these are all materials that are
available and we'd be delighted to provide.
Senator Cortez Masto. Great. Thank you. Thank you very
much.
Senator Gardner. Thank you.
And I know Senator Markey is on his way and wanted to ask
some questions, so we'll ask a few more, too, if you don't
mind.
I guess the final question that I would have for you is
twofold. One, given the authorizations, the language of the
American Innovation and Competitiveness Act, what more should
we do? Did we get it all right? Did we get something wrong? Are
there additional tools, resources, or legislation that you need
or are looking for, or guidance that you're looking for? And
then where do we go from here if that's on the right path?
Dr. Cordova. That's a real----
Voice. Your mic, please. Your mic.
Dr. Cordova. To suggest legislation?
[Laughter.]
Senator Gardner. Please.
Dr. Cordova. No----
Senator Gardner. Staff--just so you can know, staff are
shaking their heads violently no.
[Laughter.]
Senator Gardner. You can't see them, but they're shaking
their heads.
[Laughter.]
Dr. Cordova. No. I think you've given us quite a bit here
to do, just a lot of different emphases. And I think there just
are a lot of challenges. If we can realize what is here in the
Act and just do a really good job on it, we'll be a much
improved part of Federal Government in delivering, especially
in STEM education and facilities. I mean, you've just taken on
a lot of very, very big issues. So I think there's plenty for
now.
Senator Gardner. Good. Thank you. And as you've gone
through the Act, there are no areas where you wish it would
provide greater clarity or additional information, so
everything seems to be to your satisfaction in the legislation
as it is right now.
Dr. Cordova. Yes. And your staff are just wonderful to work
with, and with our staff, and so I think where there is desire
for more clarity, we just--you know, we just feel very good
about interacting with them and seeing that we have it.
But, no, I don't--I certainly don't have anything to add.
Senator Gardner. Dr. Copan?
Dr. Copan. Thank you. This legislation has been very
important for NIST and for American science. And I'd like to
thank this Committee once again, as I did in my opening
remarks. It has provided clarity, it has provided enablement. I
mentioned before the NIST focused on security, and the fact
that that was reflected in the AICA is something that resonates
with me as the new Director for NIST and the implementation of
greater security awareness and a security culture within the
NIST organization. I must say that organization has embraced
that mandate, which needs to be led from the top.
I believe that, looking to the future, this Committee needs
to keep a finger on the pulse, and we, from our side and I'm
sure between Dr. Cordova and myself, we will do our very best
to indicate to you the challenges that we face.
Several of the questions today have indicated the
competitiveness issue of U.S. science and technology
investment. We see very significant moves around the world to
try to take the high ground around standards leadership. NIST
has a very important role to play as we push the boundaries of
measurement science and technology, which enables Nobel
science-winning research that's funded by NSF, that's funded
directly through the Department of Commerce, and through our
other agencies.
We have a very new environment around international
competitiveness now that goes beyond investment strictly in
fundamental science and technology, but we're looking to move
our technology transfer capabilities beyond where we are today
as a nation, as I've indicated in my response to the earlier
question. And we have a chance, I believe, to look at policies
and implementation more broadly to unleash the innovation
engine in this American economy even further to remove
unintended barriers to commercialization to access to our
Federal research environment.
We know that some state institutions sometimes have
challenges in accessing Federal research because of their legal
constructs versus what's required in Federal technology
transfer legislation.
So I believe all those areas will move the needle for the
U.S. economy. And so this new frontier now in areas that are
critical to the economy, to U.S. competitiveness, we've
mentioned the frontiers of quantum, of future communications,
artificial intelligence and mobility, machine learning,
structural biology and what that means to the future of
medicine in this Nation. So all of those will ultimately be
reflected in the standards that drive U.S. commerce and
international trade.
Senator Gardner. Great. Thank you.
Senator Markey.
STATEMENT OF HON. EDWARD MARKEY,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MASSACHUSETTS
Senator Markey. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, very
much.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for representing
science and technology at this important time in our Nation's
history.
Director Copan, you know, when I think about cybersecurity
and having a framework that ensures that with all of the
advances that are made in technology, that there are also
defenses that are put in place. So IoT is the Internet of
Things, but in the wrong hands, it means ``Internet of
Threats.''
Dr. Copan. Indeed.
Senator Markey. And so what we need to do, obviously, is to
ensure that those safeguards are put in place. Do you have a
way at NIST of measuring the adoption and compliance of NIST's
cybersecurity framework? How will we know if your great
thinking actually gets implemented?
Dr. Copan. Thank you, Senator. That's a very, very
important question. I know it's very dear to both of us as we
look at the security of this Nation and taking advantage of the
thought leadership that comes from NIST and our technological
capacity there in understanding processes around cyber threats.
NIST, as you know, is a nonregulatory agency of the Federal
Government, and, as such, we don't have that kind of oversight
in terms of audit. We do have very close relationships,
however, with industry and across the entire Federal sector
where we do get very regular information about the adoption of
the cybersecurity framework across the Federal sector. We know
that others, including the Department of Homeland Security,
and, of course, our inspector generals, have a very keen
interest in the deployment of the cybersecurity framework for
the Nation.
NIST has focused on the Internet of Things,
interoperability, and identification of threats as well as
strategies to mitigate threats and ultimately to ensure the
resilience of our infrastructure for manufacturing----
Senator Markey. So would you--I've introduced a bill called
the Cyber Shield Act that would create an advisory committee of
cybersecurity experts from academia, industry, consumer
advocacy communities, and the public to create cybersecurity
benchmarks for IoT devices, for baby monitors, for cameras, for
cell phones, for laptops, for tablets. It could be voluntary,
but each one could just have a grade that it gets in terms of
its ability to be able to thwart, you know, cyber attacks.
So what would you think of something like that so that
manufacturers could voluntarily certify that their product
meets the industry guidelines?
Dr. Copan. As a standards-focused organization, I think
NIST very much resonates with the idea of having voluntary
standards approaches and the ability to measure how
organizations are working with respect to compliance. So I look
forward to our ongoing dialogue about the implementation in a
way that's appropriate for NIST and ultimately appropriate for
the Nation.
Senator Markey. Yes. I think we--it's always better to
start out where you're going to be forced to wind up anyway
because we're going to be forced to wind up there after the
horrific acts that occur after the accidents, the mistakes, the
compromise of the privacy of people, or the security of people.
So we are going to wind up there, it's just how many accidents,
how many compromises of security. And it's every device, so the
opportunities are going to be vast as this technology continues
to move ever more quickly.
And, Dr. Cordova, so good to see you again. It was great to
see you at the dedication of the new science building up at
Northeastern University.
And so what I would like, if I could, with my remaining
time, to give us some insight, if you would, into the
recommendations that might be made by the National Research
Council to improve reproducibility of scientific data. How
would you envision that these recommendations be implemented?
Dr. Cordova. So on March 8, you might know that we
established an agreement with the National Academies to go
forward to conduct a study for the assessment on
reproducibility and replicability in science. And they have
formed a committee of 15 experts. They held their first meeting
in December. And they have four additional meetings scheduled
in 2018.
After a widely advertised public gathering and interactive
webcast that included the scientific community, they have a lot
of input and they plan to have a lot more before they actually
give their report.
We don't know at this point what, of course, will be in the
report. That's--we're hands-off, and so they provide us with
that expert external advice that we're really counting on, but
we have high hopes that they'll give us more insight into the
field. I can say that from NSF's own studies and its advisory
committee studies, the subject is very heterogeneous depending
on what field you're in.
And some fields, like my own in astrophysics, have had
standards for a very long time. And when something is reported
that is important, everybody dives into it, and you can--you do
the reproducibility and replicability immediately to test it--
but it becomes harder in some fields, like biomedical sciences
and social and behavioral sciences. And so we're hoping that
the Academies take a very nuanced approach to the different
fields and what kind of challenges that they have and provide
some best practices that they see going on around the country
that we can publicize and share with everybody and learn from.
Senator Markey. They very much appreciate it. And my time
is expired. But, you know, over the portal of the Boston Public
Library, it says, ``The best defense of a nation is the
education of its people.'' And that's what the National Science
Foundation and that's what NIST does on an ongoing basis, and
we very much thank you for all of the work you do to advance
that American ideal. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Senator Gardner. Thank you, Senator Markey.
Dr. Cordova informed us that 300 Nobel laureates are
attending I think February 9, to make sure that the government
doesn't shut down. Is that correct? Is that what you said?
[Laughter.]
Senator Gardner. To help us figure that out. They deserve a
Nobel at that point.
Thank you very much to both of you for your time and
testimony today, and your commitment to what we all need to do
in this country, to focus on the incredible work we're doing in
our science and science fields. So thank you very much.
I will give you your homework assignment now. We'll leave
the record open for the next two weeks for members to submit
their questions.
Dr. Cordova. Of course.
Senator Gardner. If you don't mind replying to those as
soon as you can, we would be grateful for that.
With thanks to this Committee, thank you for your testimony
today.
Dr. Cordova. Thank you.
Senator Gardner. We're adjourned.
Dr. Copan. Thank you.
[Whereupon, at 4 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. John Thune to
Dr. France Cordova
Question. AICA directed NSF to implement recommendations from the
NSF Inspector General and the National Academy of Public Administration
to improve oversight of its large scale research facilities'
construction and life-cycle costs. This provision was based on our
Committee's oversight of projected cost overruns in major facilities
construction, and of research facility life-cycle management. Could you
share an estimated time frame for completion of the remaining
recommendations NSF is still in the process of fully implementing, and
highlight what you see as the most significant savings, efficiencies,
or other outcomes that have already resulted or that you expect to
result from NSF's improved oversight of this area?
Answer. Throughout my tenure it has been a top priority to improve
NSF's oversight of major facility projects, and I thank the Committee
for your unwavering support in this area. We are pleased to report that
we have completed all of the new AICA requirements regarding
facilities.
The new management fee policy that NSF put into place will help us
to align our policies more closely with those used by the rest of the
Government. This will include using the same methods to develop
reasonable fee amounts, including considering such factors as the
technical complexity of the work and the amount of cost risk undertaken
by the awardees in performance.
NSF will keep in place the controls that we have developed to
ensure that fees are not misused. These controls include providing
guidance to awardees on inappropriate uses of fee, separate tracking of
fee expenses, our authority to examine those records, and our ability
to reduce fees if they are not being used appropriately.
As required by Section 110 of AICA, the newly-appointed Chief
Officer for Research Facilities is serving as the senior agency
official with responsibility for oversight of the development,
construction, operations, and divestment of major multi-user research
facilities across the National Science Foundation. The Chief Officer
for Research Facilities is in the Office of the Director and reports
directly to me as the NSF Director. He is responsible for complete
lifecycle oversight of NSF's major facilities, including divestment.
The Chief Officer for Research Facilities has taken a new look at
our oversight structures, streamlined them to eliminate duplication,
and set up a clear reporting line that enables any potential issues to
come to the attention of my office before they become serious.
NSF has taken a number of important steps to strengthen its
oversight of cost proposals as required by AICA and recommended by
NAPA. These steps began several years ago with aligning our internal
processes more closely with GAO good practices and clearly articulating
our expectations for proposals from recipients.
The changes in internal processes include more effective use of
independent cost assessments and clear requirements for well-documented
bases of estimate for both construction and operations. The required
independent cost estimate for new construction awards, and our expert
panel reviews, are just two types of independent cost assessments we
use.
We also have put in place procedures whereby NSF can hold up to 100
percent of the budget contingency for a construction project to manage
known risks until the realization of risks necessitates the obligation
of a portion of that contingency.
To ensure that actual costs are allowable, incurred cost audits are
used based on an NSF risk assessment with the interval between audits
on construction awards not exceeding the three years mandated by AICA.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Roger Wicker to
Dr. France Cordova
Question 1. Do you agree that a current threat facing the
cybersecurity labor force is a lack of professors available to teach
our next generation of cybersecurity professionals?
Answer. Yes, and we appreciate your leadership on this issue,
including through the passage of the Cyber Scholarship Opportunities
Act of 2017.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has long been focused on the
workforce needs surrounding the preparation of the computer science and
STEM workforce of tomorrow. We describe some of the initiatives in the
answer to Question 2 below.
Question 2. How can we increase our number of professors and
educators available to train our CyberCorps students?
Answer. NSF recently funded the National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) to explore the increases in
enrollment in undergraduate computer science courses, and make
recommendations to address how institutions can best manage high
enrollments, respond to pressures and demands computer science
departments are feeling in the short and long terms, and provide new
opportunities to increase diversity in the discipline. The NASEM
responded with the release of a Consensus Study Report titled,
Assessing and Responding to the Growth of Computer Science
Undergraduate Enrollments. While the report has not been formally
released, the prepublication report, which includes NASEM's findings
and recommendations is already helping NSF to formulate and implement
effective actions for what is indeed a pressing and important problem.
As computing has become increasingly central to addressing
scientific and societal challenges, NSF has made significant
investments in the computer science ``pipeline'' of K-12 and
undergraduate students through programs such as Computer Science for
All (CSforAll) and Revolutionizing engineering and computer science
Departments (RED), respectively. At the undergraduate level, computer
science departments are experiencing a tremendous surge of non-major
students in their mid-level and advanced courses, as noted in the NASEM
report. In FY2018, NSF is considering how best to support computer
science departments and universities in responding to this changing
landscape, perhaps by funding opportunities for restructuring
departments and universities to better prepare students to employ the
power of computing across the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary
collaborations of the future.
NSF also makes critical investments in support of doctoral students
and early-career faculty in computer science:
Early-career faculty in computer science. NSF supports
early-career faculty in computer science through multiple
targeted programs. For example, early-career faculty are
supported through the NSF-wide Faculty Early-Career Development
(CAREER) program which provides support for up to five years to
pursue innovative research at the frontiers of the field as
well as community service as demonstrated through scientific
leadership, education, or community outreach. Additionally,
since FY2015, the Computer & Information Science & Engineering
(CISE) directorate has funded the CISE Research Initiation
Initiative program, providing very early career faculty with
the ability to undertake exploratory research, acquire
preliminary data, develop new collaborations, and/or develop
new approaches that may lead to improved capacity to write
successful grant proposals in the future.
Incorporating teaching into computer science doctoral
programs. Many universities operate centers for teaching and
learning that provide opportunities for graduate students to
acquire expertise and experience in teaching and learning. In
computer science, NSF's CISE directorate has also provided
funding to mentoring programs--examples include funding a
biennial ``Career Mentoring Workshop'' organized by the
Computing Research Association (CRA), and a ``Grad Cohort
Workshop'' organized by CRA's Committee on the Status of Women
in Computing Research--both programs provide career mentoring
and teaching advice to attendees.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Bill Nelson to
Dr. France Cordova
Question 1. What is the status of plans to find partners to help
keep aging, but still world-class facilities like Arecibo and the Green
Bank Observatory in West Virginia operational? Do you have the support
you need in Congress to move forward?
Answer. NSF greatly appreciates the strong support Congress
continues to show for our world-class facilities. The 2012 report of
the NSF Portfolio Review Committee, a commissioned subcommittee of the
NSF Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences Advisory
Committee, was charged with recommending a balanced portfolio for NSF's
Division of Astronomical Sciences. This report was meant to maximize
the science recommended by ``New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and
Astrophysics'', the 2010 National Academies sixth decadal survey in
astronomy and astrophysics. The recommendations were further endorsed
by the 2016-2017 annual report of the NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics
Advisory Committee, and the 2016 National Academies' mid-decadal report
``New Worlds, New Horizons, A Midterm Assessment.'' As part of these
recommendations NSF began the process of evaluating its facilities in
line with these priorities. Regarding the Arecibo and Green Bank
Observatories specifically:
Arecibo: Beginning February 22, 2018, the University of
Central Florida (UCF) began formal transition activities to
take on the operations and management of NSF's Arecibo
Observatory in Puerto Rico. With this award, UCF will fulfill
NSF's preferred alternative for management and operations of
the observatory. The university will take over formal
management and execute a program of research and education
consistent with the objectives and priorities of the scientific
community. The university will provide support and technical
personnel to manage the observatory, including its research and
educational activities. The award duration is expected to run
five years, with NSF contributions decreasing over time from
the current level of approximately $8 million per year to
approximately $2 million per year by the second half of FY
2022. This award ensures continued science-focused operations
that maintain atmospheric, planetary and astronomical research,
including radio observations of astronomical sources, planetary
radar observations of solar system and near-Earth objects, and
studies of Earth's atmosphere.
Green Bank Observatory (GBO): On November 8, 2017, NSF
published the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for
the Green Bank Observatory (GBO) in the Federal Register. The
DEIS was prepared in compliance with the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969, as amended, to evaluate the potential
environmental impacts resulting from proposed operational
changes due to funding constraints for the GBO. The agency-
preferred alternative is Action Alternative A: Collaboration
with Interested Parties for Continued Science and Education-
Focused Operations with Reduced NSF funding. NSF accepted
comments for 60 days following the publication of the DEIS (an
additional 15 days beyond the normal 45 days were provided
because of the holidays). During the comment period, NSF held a
public meeting at GBO on November 30, 2017, to receive comments
from interested parties and stakeholders. Following the end of
the comment period on the DEIS, the agency reviews and
considers the public comments and begins preparation of the
Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), which NSF hopes to
have available in the fall of 2018. The FEIS will identify a
preferred alternative. Once the document is prepared, there is
a 30-day ``cooling off period'' before the Record of Decision
(ROD) is released to the public. The purpose of the cooling off
period is to allow the agency to consider its decision. NSF is
actively seeking collaborators for GBO. On March 5, 2018, NSF
issued a Dear Colleague Letter inviting consultations regarding
future continued operations and management of Green Bank
Observatory, to alert the community of the opportunity to
provide expressions of interest in providing funding support
and in management and operation of GBO. A Solicitation would be
anticipated during FY 2018.
Question 2. The National Science Board is among the many who have
noted our slumping investment in research and development while
countries in southern and eastern Asia, most notably China, accelerate
their efforts. The FY18 budget request proposed cutting the NSF by
eleven percent. What would a cut of that magnitude mean in terms of
research and grants funded by NSF?
Answer. NSF was funded at $7.5B in FY 2016 and under the FY 2017
CR. The FY 2018 request was a reduction of 11.2 percent for a budget of
$6.65B. However, after the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 was signed
into law, the Administration recommended adding back $819 million to
the FY 2018 request to provide level funding with FY 2017 enacted
level. The FY 2019 Budget Request for NSF is also $7.472 billion, the
same as the FY 2017 Current Plan level. The FY 2019 requested level
will allow NSF to invest in priority areas like Advancing NSF's Big
Ideas -bold questions that will drive NSF's long-term research agenda;
implementing agency reforms centered on accelerating focused, cross-
disciplinary efforts around two of the NSF Big Ideas -The Future of
Work at the Human-Technology Frontier and Harnessing the Data
Revolution; and beginning construction on the Antarctic Infrastructure
Modernization for Science project.
Question 3. The committee is pleased by NSF's progress in opening
up new mid-scale project opportunities. As noted in your testimony, NSF
received 191 responses to its RFI on mid-scale infrastructure. The
committee is mindful of the tension, especially in a constrained budget
environment, between funding infrastructure and research. How is NSF
approaching this challenge of balancing resources? Is NSF exploring
funding mechanisms other than the research directorates?
Answer. As noted, NSF received nearly 200 replies to its Request
for Information on potential mid-scale research infrastructure projects
in the $20 million to $100 million range. Replies were received from
areas of science covered by all of NSF's seven directorates. These
responses amount to a total demand of at least $10 billion for mid-
scale research infrastructure in that cost range. We are currently
completing analysis of the responses in order to finalize mechanisms to
support mid-scale research infrastructure in the future, Based on the
demand evident from the responses, NSF has added $55 million for mid-
scale research infrastructure in its FY 2019 budget request. Separate
tracks within the Mid-scale program will fund acquisition, design/
development, and implementation. NSF will also conduct strategic
discussions of the long-term development of mid-scale research
infrastructure with our Advisory Committees and the National Science
Board.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Catherine Cortez Masto
to Dr. France Cordova
Science Vacancies in the Administration. The Administration's
commitment to science has understandably raised concerns because of
actions it has and has not taken. While I could give you a long list of
just the policy decisions alone, I wanted to ask about vacancies and
their hiring freeze policy.
Question 1. Dr. Cordova, the NSF site's own figures are that your
agency ``supports an average of about 200,000 various scientific
personnel around the world.'' What are the detrimental impacts of the
White House still not having nominated or filled various leadership
positions within the White House Office of Science and Technology
Policy (OSTP)?
Answer. NSF works closely with the White House Office of Science
and Technology Policy and maintains a very strong working relationship
with the staff in that office.
Question 2. What impact, if any, did the questionable hiring freeze
policy the Administration has employed have on your department, and the
scientific progress you're making?
Answer. NSF supports research, innovation, and discovery that
provides the foundation for economic growth in this country. By
advancing the frontiers of science and engineering, our Nation can
develop the knowledge and cutting-edge technologies needed to address
the challenges we face today and will face in the future. NSF complied
with the terms of the Administration's hiring freeze, and as an already
lean organization operationally, we continue to strive to fulfill our
mission both through the hard work and commitment of the Foundation's
excellent workforce and the effective use of innovative information
technologies.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to
Dr. France Cordova
Question 1. I authored Section 310 of the AICA bill which focuses
on how to promote more inclusive STEM education especially in rural and
tribal communities. As you know that section askes NSF to award grants
that focus on developing tools to create inclusive STEM education
environments for underrepresented populations, particularly rural and
tribal communities. I asked NSF to develop metrics to measure success
and report on the progress of the program. I see that to date, that
report has not been completed. Has there been interest in the grant
program? Have there been grants awarded?
Answer. As required by the AICA, NSF has been providing this report
as part of its annual budget submission to Congress. The first report
was included in the FY 2018 budget submission, and the next was
included in the FY 2019 budget request.
FY 2018 Report: https://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2018/pdf/
16_fy2018.pdf
FY 2019 Report: https://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2019/pdf/
20_fy2019.pdf
The Computer Science for All: Researcher Practitioner Partnerships
(CSforAll RPP) program (NSF 17-525) combines professional development
opportunities for teachers at all grade levels together with research
studies that at the PreK-8 level will focus on how to integrate
computer science and computational thinking into their classrooms; and
at the high school level on how to help teachers teach rigorous
computer science courses. Importantly, all proposals must address
groups underrepresented in computing, including women, persons with
disabilities, African Americans/Blacks, Hispanic Americans, American
Indians, Alaska natives, Native Hawaiians, Native Pacific Islanders,
and persons from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
The CSforAll: RPP program's first deadline for proposals was
February 28, 2017. NSF convened merit review panels in April 2017, and
the program made its first cohort of 34 two-to four-year awards by the
end of FY 2017. All awards identified at least one underrepresented or
underserved group, as outlined in the table below.
Underrepresented or Underserved Group PServed by Backbone Organizations
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Groups
Category Served
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rural 12
Low Socio-Economic Status 8
Disabilities 4
Pacific Islanders 1
Women/Girls 10
English Language Learners 2
African-Americans 10
Native Americans 4
Latino/a 17
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NSF works to create inclusive STEM education environments for
underrepresented populations through a variety of additional programs.
For example, STEM + Computing Partnerships (STEM+ C) addresses the
integration of computational thinking and computing activities in early
childhood through high school (preK-12). The program emphasizes
computing both as a STEM discipline and a discipline integral to the
practice of all other STEM disciplines. In addition, STEM+C projects
include strategies to address issues of underrepresentation in STEM and
computing.
Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of
Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES)
is a comprehensive national initiative designed to enhance U.S.
leadership in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)
discoveries and innovations focused on NSF's commitment to diversity,
inclusion, and broadening participation in these fields. NSF INCLUDES
supports efforts to create networked relationships among organizations
whose goals include developing talent from all sectors of society to
build the STEM workforce. This initiative seeks to improve
collaborative efforts aimed at enhancing the preparation, increasing
the participation, and ensuring the contributions of individuals from
groups that have traditionally been underrepresented and underserved in
the STEM enterprise: women, persons with disabilities, African
Americans/Blacks, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives,
Native Hawaiians, Native Pacific Islanders, and persons from
economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Significant advancement in the
inclusion of these groups will result in a new generation of STEM
talent and leadership to secure our Nation's future and long-term
economic competitiveness.
Question 2. Are there other things that NSF is doing to address the
under inclusion problem, particularly for rural and tribal communities?
Answer. NSF's Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP)
promotes improvement and continued quality in undergraduate science,
technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) instructional and
outreach programs at Tribal Colleges and Universities, Alaska Native-
serving institutions and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions.
TCUP allows proposers flexibility and creativity in the design of
efforts to improve undergraduate STEM education. Proposed activities
should be the result of a careful analysis of institutional needs,
address institutional and NSF goals, and have the potential to result
in significant and sustainable improvement of STEM programs. TCUP
emphasizes the expansion of course and degree offerings; development of
undergraduate research opportunities, faculty skills, and STEM-
education technologies; and the integration of community goals and
traditional knowledge with mainstream STEM education and research.
Partnerships among institutions of higher education and collaborations
with K-12 schools, tribal government units or other relevant groups are
encouraged.
TCUP support is available through three main foci: (1) the
Transformative Capacity Building focus includes Instructional Capacity
Excellence in TCUP Institutions awards, Targeted STEM Infusion
Projects, and Preparing for TCUP Implementation awards; (2) the
Multiple Institution Collaborations focus includes Partnerships for
Geoscience Education, Partnerships for Documentary Linguistics
Education, and Pre-Engineering Education Collaboratives; and (3) the
Individual Investigator Studies focus offers Small Grants for Research.
Typical project goals and approaches include course, degree, and
curriculum development, reform and enhancement; faculty professional
development; the integration of active learning strategies into the
STEM curriculum; disciplinary and education research; community
outreach and engagement; student support; internships and other
educational enrichment activities; student recruitment, retention and
placement; infusion of technology to enhance STEM instruction;
collaborations with other educational institutions, business, or other
community partners; and activities that enhance the knowledge and
skills of technical support personnel.
______
Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Amy Klobuchar to
Dr. France Cordova
Expanding Digital Literacy. Expanding opportunities for all
students interested in STEM is a crucial part of ensuring a healthy
pipeline of workers who are equipped with the skills needed for the
jobs of tomorrow. One Minnesota company, Best Buy, is helping to bridge
the opportunity gap by providing underserved youth access to new
technology. Best Buy's Teen Tech Centers are free, year-round, after-
school programs where teens can get hands-on experience exploring
programing and computer science.
Question. Dr. Cordova, what is NSF doing to partner with outside
groups working to expand digital literacy and computer skills?
Answer. As part of the Computer Science (CS) for All initiative,
NSF is investing in activities to advance the effective teaching and
learning of computer science and computational thinking in K-12
education.
NSF's efforts have been leveraged by many partnering Federal
agencies and private organizations that are working to bring CS
education to schools across the country. Within the Federal Government,
NSF has partnered with the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the
Department of Education, and the Department of Defense. NSF has also
worked closely with the Corporation for National and Community Service,
Code.org, the College Board, Teach for America, Project Lead The Way,
the National Math and Science Initiative, and 100Kin10.
NSF has also funded a CSforAll Consortium, to provide a central
resource, and to serve as a platform for connecting diverse
stakeholders, providing support to new and developing initiatives,
tracking and sharing progress, and communicating about the work to
local and national audiences. Information on the CSforAll Consortium
can be found at: https://www.csforall.org/
In addition, NSF's Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program
focuses on the education of technicians for the high-technology fields
that drive the Nation's economy. The program involves partnerships
between academic institutions and industry to promote improvement in
the education of science and engineering technicians at the
undergraduate and secondary school levels. The vast majority of
projects are situated at community colleges, giving many students
underrepresented in STEM access to career opportunities.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Richard Blumenthal to
Dr. France Cordova
Funding Cuts. Last May, President Trump released a proposed budget
that would cut science programs across the Federal Government in FY
2018. Specifically, the proposal would cut funding for the National
Science Foundation by $776 million, or about 11 percent. As you know,
NSF provides $7.5 billion per year in funds for vital research efforts.
This is about 25 percent of Federal support to academic institutions
for basic research. This funding supports projects that are integral to
our country's health, safety, security, and economic competitiveness.
Colleges and institutions throughout Connecticut have a long history of
successfully securing funds from the National Science Foundation and
putting them to work on important, innovative projects. These cuts
specifically target your foundation.
Question 1. Will these cuts set your organization back and harm the
scientific community?
Answer. NSF was funded at $7.5B in FY 2016 and under the FY 2017
CR. The FY 2018 request was a reduction of 11.2 percent for a budget of
$6.65B. However, after the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 was signed
into law, the Administration recommended adding back $819 million to
the FY 2018 request to provide level funding with FY 2017 enacted
level. The FY 2019 Budget Request for NSF is also $7.472 billion, the
same as the FY 2017 Current Plan level. The FY 2019 requested level
will allow NSF to invest in priority areas like Advancing NSF's Big
Ideas -bold questions that will drive NSF's long-term research agenda;
implementing agency reforms centered on accelerating focused, cross-
disciplinary efforts around two of the NSF Big Ideas -The Future of
Work at the Human-Technology Frontier and Harnessing the Data
Revolution; and beginning construction on the Antarctic Infrastructure
Modernization for Science project.
Question 2. Do you join me in my concern about Trump's budget cuts?
Answer. The FY 2019 Budget Request for NSF is $7.472 billion, the
same as the FY 2017 Current Plan level. NSF is committed to supporting
ground-breaking research, world-leading facilities, and a skilled and
innovative workforce across all fields of science and engineering. NSF
is vital to our Nation because we invest in the fundamental research
and the talented people who make the discoveries that transform our
future. Those discoveries are a primary driver of the U.S. economy,
enhance our Nation's security, and give the country the competitive
edge to remain a global leader. Under the President's FY 2019 budget
request, NSF will continue its support for groundbreaking research in
areas including computer science, biology, engineering, geoscience,
mathematics, the physical sciences, and the social sciences.
Question 3. How do you believe these cuts would affect the United
States' global competitiveness?
Answer. As the only Federal agency that invests in fundamental,
basic research across all fields of science and engineering, NSF has
spent nearly seven decades laying the foundation upon which the future
is built. Basic research supported by NSF allowed for the emergence of
fields of research such as data science, encryption, gene editing,
nanotechnology, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems. Our
support will foster new growth in these fields vital to the economy and
security. NSF-supported research has added hundreds of billions of
dollars to the economy and led to advances that benefit all Americans,
from Doppler radar to MRI scans and the computer architecture that led
to the internet. The President's FY 2019 budget request will enable us
to continue that work.
______
Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to
All Witnesses
Question. I am concerned about the increased political interference
in scientific research by this Administration. Can each of you identify
the specific actions you are taking to protect scientists, both agency
scientists and grant recipient scientists?
Answer. The very first section of the American Innovation and
Competitiveness Act (AICA), affirms the importance of our merit review
process. Through this process, the National Science Foundation ensures
that proposals submitted are reviewed in a fair, competitive,
transparent, and in-depth manner. This is a non-partisan process that
has stood the test of time and been emulated all over the world.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to
Dr. France Cordova
Diversity in STEM. This Committee recently had a hearing on
Artificial Intelligence. During the hearing, we discussed the need for
diversity among the individuals creating AI software and programs.
Question 1. Dr. Cordova, your testimony highlights the effort of
the NSF INCLUDES program, and underscores the importance of promoting
diversity within STEM education and careers. What are other actions or
initiatives you are undertaking to increase diversity within the ranks
of NSF?
Answer. The NSF INCLUDES program is a comprehensive national
initiative designed to enhance U.S. leadership in STEM discoveries and
innovations by focusing on diversity, inclusion, and broadening
participation in these fields at scale. The vision of NSF INCLUDES is
to catalyze the STEM enterprise to collaborative work for inclusive
change, which will result in a STEM workforce that reflects the
diversity of the Nation.
To achieve national impact, NSF INCLUDES shifts away from single-
project efforts, and recognizes that complex problems are best
addressed through collaborative approaches. NSF INCLUDES has already
funded nearly 70 Design and Development Launch Pilotss across the
country that range across the PreK-graduate spectrum, involve community
partners, and will provide new bold models for broadening
participation.
NSF has taken a variety of additional approaches to broaden
participation across its many programs. NSF's broadening participation
investments range from capacity building, research centers,
partnerships, and alliances to the use of co-funding or supplements to
existing awards in the core research programs.
NSF's merit review criteria of intellectual merit and broader
impacts incorporates consideration of broadening participation and the
science of broadening participation. Furthermore, some program
announcements and solicitations specifically target or emphasize
opportunities to broaden participation within the STEM enterprise.
NSF's broadening participation portfolio, presented below, is
divided into three categories: (1) programs that are primarily focused
on broadening participation, (2) programs that have broadening
participation as one of several emphases, and (3) Dear Colleague
Letters expressing interest in specific aspects of broadening
participation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Focused Programs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Programs with an explicit broadening participation program goal. The
majority of each award's budget goes to broadening participation
activities, and could involve research on the topic.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PROGRAM NAME Publication No. Directorate
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inclusion across the Nation of 17-522 All
Communities of Learners of
Underrepresented Discoverers in
Engineering and Science (NSF
INCLUDES)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ADVANCE: Increasing the 16-594 All
Participation and Advancement
of Women in Academic Science
and Engineering Careers
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Broadening Participation in 16-7680 ENG
Engineering
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Centers of Research Excellence 16-525 EHR, ENG
in Science and Technology
(CREST) and HBCU Research
Infrastructure for Science and
Engineering (RISE)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disability and Rehabilitation 17-5342 ENG
Engineering
------------------------------------------------------------------------
EPSCoR Research Infrastructure 13-553 OIA
Improvement Program Track-3:
Building Diverse Communities
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Experimental Program to 12-588 All
Stimulate Competitive Research:
Workshop Opportunities (EPS-WO)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Historically Black Colleges and 16-538 EHR
Universities Undergraduate
Program
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Louis Stokes Alliances for 15-594 EHR
Minority Participation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NSF Scholarships in Science, 17-527 EHR
Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Partnerships for Research and 14-606 MPS
Education in Materials
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Partnerships in Astronomy & 13-566 MPS
Astrophysics Research and
Education
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Postdoctoral Research 15-501 BIO
Fellowships in Biology
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Presidential Awards for 16-534 EHR
Excellence in Science,
Mathematics and Engineering
Mentoring (PAESMEM)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SBE Postdoctoral Research 16-590 SBE
Fellowships
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tribal Colleges and Universities 16-531 EHR, ENG, GEO, SBE
Program
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Emphasis Programs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Programs with an additional review criterion on broadening
participation. All awards have broadening participation components
(e.g., a project diversity plan) along with components not necessarily
related to broadening participation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PROGRAM NAME Publication No. Directorate
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advancing Informal STEM Learning 15-593 EHR
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer Science for All 17-525 CISE, EHR
------------------------------------------------------------------------
EMERGING FRONTIERS IN RESEARCH 16-612 CISE, ENG, MPS
AND INNOVATION 2017
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gen-3 Engineering Research 15-589 ENG
Centers
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Graduate Research Fellowship 16-588 All
Program
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Innovative Technology 15-599 EHR
Experiences for Students and
Teachers
------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Research 12-551 All
Experiences for Students
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Major Research Instrumentation 15-504 All
Program:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Materials Research Science and 16-545 MPS
Engineering Centers
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Research Experiences for 13-542 All
Undergraduates
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Science and Technology Centers: 14-600 All
Integrative Partnerships
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Science of Learning 16-004Y SBE
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Colleague Letters
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PROGRAM NAME Publication No. Directorate
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Historically Black Colleges and DCL 17-138 BIO, CISE, EHR,
Universities Excellence in ENG, GEO, MPS,
Research Program SBE, OIA
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Life STEM DCL 16-143 EHR
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Strengthening Transfer of DCL 16-094 EHR
Students from Two-year Hispanic-
serving Institutions to Four-
year STEM Programs
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Strengthening Research Capacity DCL 16-080 All
at Historically Black Colleges
and Universities
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fundamental Research to Improve DCL 16-064 EHR
STEM Teaching and Learning, and
Workforce Development for
Persons with Disabilities
within the EHR Core Research
Program
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stimulating Research on DCL 15-078 All
Effective Strategies in
Undergraduate STEM Education at
Two-Year Hispanic Serving
Institutions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stimulating Research Related to DCL 15-066 SBE, EHR
the Science of Broadening
Participation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Effort to Broaden the DCL 15-063 All
Participation of Students in
Two-Year Hispanic Serving
Institutions in Science,
Technology, Education, and
Mathematics (STEM)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Veterans Research Supplement DCL 14-124 ENG
Program (VRS)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Research Assistantships for High DCL 14-073 ENG
School Students (RAHSS):
Supplemental Funding to Current
SBIR/STTR Phase II Awards to
Broaden Participation in
Science and Engineering
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Career-Life Balance (CLB) DCL 13-109 All
Supplemental Funding
Opportunities in Support of
Postdoctoral Investigators
Funded by NSF Awards
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Career-Life Balance (CLB)-- DCL 13-099 All
Graduate Research Fellowship
Program (GRFP) Supplemental
Funding Requests
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Balancing the Scale: NSF's N/A All
Career-Life Balance (CLB)
Initiative
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Career-Life Balance (CLB) DCL 13-075 All
Initiative
------------------------------------------------------------------------
MPS Alliances for Graduate DCL 13-071 MPS
Education and the
Professoriate--Graduate
Research Supplements
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Announcement of Efforts to DCL 12-081 BIO, CISE, EHR,
Increase Hispanic Participation ENG
in STEM Fields
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Research Assistantships for High DCL 12-078 BIO
School Students RAHSS)--BIO
supplements
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Research Experience for Teachers DCL 12-075 BIO
(RET): Funding Opportunity in
the Biological Sciences
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Engineering Research Experiences DCL 12-074 ENG
for Veterans
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Research Experiences for DCL 12-073 ENG
Veterans/Teachers
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Supplemental Opportunity for DCL 12-069 ENG, EHR
Small Business Innovation
Research and Small Business
Innovation Research/Small
Business Technology Transfer
for CREST/HBCU-RISE
Collaborations
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SBIR/STTR Supplemental Funding DCL 08-029 ENG, EHR
for Community College Research
Teams
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Research Assistantships for High DCL 06-003 ENG
School Students (RAHSS)--SBIR/
STTR Phase II Supplements
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NSF has also released a solicitation entitled ``Computer Science
for All: Researcher Practitioner Partnerships'' (CS for All: RPP) to
provide high school teachers with what they need to teach rigorous
computer science courses, and K-8 teachers with needed instructional
materials and preparation to integrate computer science and
computational thinking into their courses. All proposals must address
groups underrepresented in computing, including women, persons with
disabilities, African Americans/Blacks, Hispanic Americans, American
Indians, Alaska natives, Native Hawaiians, Native Pacific Islanders,
and persons from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Question 2. NSF's Innovation Corps program was expanded to address
some of the technology transfer challenges. Arrowhead Center at New
Mexico State University and Innovation Academy at the University of New
Mexico were both awarded grants from this program and have helped
entrepreneurs commercialize their innovations. How can we build on the
success of the I-Corps program and continue to help the research
community with business development and entrepreneurship?
Answer. Since the start of the I-CorpsTM Program in
2011, NSF has funded 8 I-CorpsTM Nodes, 87 I-
CorpsTM Sites, and more than 1,100 I-
CorpsTM Teams. The I-CorpsTM Teams have come from
230 universities and have created 440 startups to date with the
startups located in 46 states plus Puerto Rico.
The Nodes and Sites form a National Innovation Network containing
more than 100 universities that are working collaboratively to build,
utilize, sustain, and expand the national innovation ecosystem.
To address Section 601 of the AICA, NSF currently has two pilot
programs underway. The first pilot is focused on the expansion of I-
Corps, and the second pilot is focused on developing follow-on grants.
Expansion of I-Corps: NSF is funding eight I-
CorpsTM sites to increase participation and promote
inclusion of underrepresented populations in entrepreneurship.
These sites will pilot novel approaches and partnerships to
engage differently-abled individuals, first-generation college
students, racial and ethnic minorities and women, as well as
Minority-Serving Institutions.
Follow-on grants: Since 2017 the National Science Foundation
awarded seven Innovation Corps (I-CorpsTM) Nodes
with $350,000 to $400,000 each in supplemental funding to
launch pilot Phase Zero I-CorpsTM programs. Each
Node will use the funding to support up to ten teams through
the canonical I-CorpsTM training program, recruit
new teams, create additional entrepreneurship trainings, and
help startups prepare Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
proposals. Unlike the typical I-CorpsTM program,
which requires a recent NSF lineage and an academic team
member, the technology from Phase Zero I-
CorpsTM teams may come from any source, and Phase
Zero team members do not need a university affiliation. These
Phase Zero grants help expand participation in the I-
CorpsTM Program and broaden the National Innovation
Network.
NSF is funding eight I-CorpsTM sites to increase
participation and promote inclusion of underrepresented populations in
entrepreneurship. These sites will pilot novel approaches and
partnerships to engage differently-abled individuals, first-generation
college students, racial and ethnic minorities and women, as well as
Minority-Serving Institutions.
Question 3. The NSF has a significant role in aiding technology
transfer from government sources to the private sector. This is an
important program for the National Laboratories in New Mexico.
Sometimes, Federal agencies may not be as successful with technology
transfer. Can you speak of ways that NSF can partner with other
agencies or programs to increase their success?
Answer. Existing NSF innovation research alliances include
consortia such as Engineering Research Centers (ERC), Industry
University Cooperative Research Centers (IUCRC), PFI, Science and
Technology Centers (STC), and Materials Research Science and
Engineering Centers (MRSEC). They are also exemplified by the Grant
Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) program, and
the SBIR/STTR program. Many of these programs have been part of the NSF
investment portfolio for decades. For example, SBIR is a government-
wide program initiated at the NSF in 1976. These programs complement
our other significant investments in fundamental scientific and
engineering research by offering multiple pathways for moving discovery
to innovative technologies.
NSF I-CorpsTM has 9 MOUs with other Federal Agencies. I-
CorpsTM programs have been adopted and adapted in
partnerships with a growing number of Federal agencies, including the
National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Energy (DOE),
Department of Defense (DOD), National Security Agency (NSA), United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Homeland
Security (DHS), Advanced Research Projects Agency--Energy (ARPA-E),
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Small
Business Administration (SBA). A MOU between NSF and the Department of
Energy established Energy I-Corps, a program specifically created to
accelerate the commercialization of technologies from DOE national
laboratories.
Question 4. The American Innovation and Competitiveness Act (AICA)
included provisions to provide grants to Hispanic-Serving institutions,
such as the University of New Mexico. Can you update the Committee on
the implementation of expanding grants to these institutions? And, what
else is NSF doing in its' commitment to diversity in STEM fields?
Answer. To enhance the quality of undergraduate STEM education at
Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), NSF has established the Improving
Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI
Program) (NSF 18-524).
In designing the HSI Program, NSF sought community input in a
variety of ways that included releasing a Dear Colleague Letter,
awarding conference grants to seek stakeholder input, establishing and
holding a meeting of the Building Capacity at Hispanic-Serving
Institutions Subcommittee (HSI Subcommittee) of the Education and Human
Resources Advisory Committee, and conducting three virtual listening
sessions that invited commentary from members of the HSI community.
NSF released a program solicitation (NSF 18-524) to guide the
initial focus of the HSI Program. NSF will continue to gather community
input from funded HSI conferences to inform future components of, or
modifications to, the HSI Program.
NSF issued the first HSI Program awards for seven conferences in FY
2018. The awarded conference projects, their principal investigators
and their institutions are listed below:
PROMISE: Providing Resources and Opportunities for
Minorities in STEM Education, Nora Garza, Laredo Community
College.
Catalyzing Progress in Undergraduate STEM Education with
Insights from Midwestern HSIs, Laura Sanders, Northeastern
Illinois University.
Stakeholder Perspectives on Challenges and Opportunities for
Improving Undergraduate STEM Education at HSIs, William Kitch,
Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station.
Dissecting the STEM Education Ecosystem in Hispanic Serving
Institutions (HSIs): Regional Insights from Southern
California, Yusheng Liu, California State University,
Fullerton.
Co-Designing an Engineering Education Research Agenda,
Meagan Kendall, University of Texas at El Paso; Alexandra
Strong, Franklin W. Olin College; Ines Basalo, University of
Miami.
Urbano-Increasing Access and Success in Urban Stem Programs,
Jorge Gonzalez, The City College of New York.
Accelerating the Impact of HSI STEM Education and Research
on Innovation Ecosystems, Rodolfo J. Romanach, University of
Puerto Rico Mayaguez.
In FY 2017, NSF made four awards for conferences aimed at informing
the HSI program's design. Those four awards, their principal
investigators and their institutions are listed below:
Hispanic-focused STEM Ideas for Inspiration and Innovation,
Meline Kevorkian, Nova Southeastern University.
Transforming STEM Education in Hispanic Serving
Institutions--Regional Insights from the Southwest, Guadalupe
Lozano, University of Arizona.
Understanding and Improving Readiness and Student
Transitions, Andrew Hamilton, University of Houston.
Pathways for Hispanic Students in STEM, Michael Dennin,
University of California-Irvine.
The HSI program will accept proposals in two tracks: (1) Building
Capacity and (2) HSIs New to NSF. The Building Capacity track funds
projects from $500K to $1.5M for up to 5 years and is open to all
eligible institutions. The HSIs New to NSF track funds projects up to
$250K for up to 3 years and is open only to eligible institutions that
have never received NSF funding, or that have not received NSF funding
in the five years preceding the proposal deadline.
The HSI Program will also fund one Resource Hub project up to $3M
for up to five years. The Resource Hub will support the needs of HSIs
with little or no prior NSF funding, such as assistance with proposal
writing and financial compliance. In addition, the Resource Hub will
facilitate networking and professional development that build and
strengthen collaborations among HSIs.
Question 5. There was a provision that I backed that supported the
need to coordinate research and efforts on sustainable chemistry. Has
NSF undertaken any activity to further the mission of the Sustainable
Chemistry Research Program that had been originally authorized in the
National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2010?
Answer. NSF continues to broadly define sustainable chemistry as
efforts that seek to improve the efficiency with which natural
resources are used to meet human needs for chemical products and
services. Sustainable chemistry encompasses the design, manufacture and
use of efficient, effective, safe and more environmentally benign
chemical products and processes; stimulates innovation across all
sectors to design and discover new chemicals, production processes, and
product stewardship practices; and, increases performance and value
while meeting the goals of protecting and enhancing human health and
the environment.
In response to the enactment of the America COMPETES Authorization
Act of 2010, NSF established the Science, Engineering and Education for
Sustainability NSF-Wide Investment (SEES) to advance science,
engineering, and education to inform the societal actions needed for
environmental and economic sustainability and sustainable human well-
being. As part of the SEES portfolio of activities, the Sustainable
Chemistry, Engineering, and Materials (SusChEM) Initiative began in
2013. The SusChEM initiative addressed the interrelated challenges of
sustainable supply, engineering, production, and use of chemicals and
materials. Since FY 2013, the SusChEM program has funded over 349
grants totaling over $134 million in the Divisions of Chemistry (MPS),
Materials Research (MPS), Earth Sciences (GEO), Civil, Mechanical and
Manufacturing Innovation (ENG), and Chemical, Bioengineering,
Environmental and Transport Systems (ENG). Each SusChEM-participating
division continues to mainstream sustainable chemistry, materials and
engineering into their core research programs.
The NSF Division of Chemistry has funded a total of ten Centers for
Chemical Innovation (CCIs) since the inception of the CCI program.
These Phase II centers are major investments of up to $4 million per
year for up to 10 years, supporting large teams of researchers working
on frontier questions. While sustainability in not a required topic for
the CCIs, five of these ten total centers have focused on challenges
related to sustainable chemistry including, for example, the Center for
Selective C-H Functionalization and the Center for Sustainable
Polymers. The collaborative and interdisciplinary environment within
the CCIs provides valuable training for developing scientists in
SusChEM fields.
______
Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Maggie Hassan to
Dr. France Cordova
The Opioid Crisis. My home state of New Hampshire is being heavily
impacted by the fentanyl, heroin, and opioid crisis. We truly need an
all-hands-on-deck approach to tackle this epidemic.
Question. What kind of work is the National Science Foundation
doing that might help address the opioid epidemic?
Answer. In October, the Administration officially declared the
opioid crisis a national public health emergency and signed a
Presidential Memorandum outlining the efforts the Federal Government
would undertake to address the crisis.
As part of that important work, OSTP initiated an effort to
coordinate health-focused Federal Government research and development
activities related to the opioid crisis. NSF has been included in this
effort, which will connect R&D efforts across the Executive Branch and
link them with private sector and intergovernmental capabilities and
needs.
NSF has a long history of supporting interdisciplinary basic
research that spans Biological Sciences, Social, Behavioral and
Economic Sciences, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Engineering,
Computer Science, and Education. So, the Foundation is in the excellent
position of being able to leverage this culture of convergence and join
our colleagues at mission-driven agencies to contribute to Combating
the Opioid Crisis.
We are living in a time of remarkable advances in a range of
powerful technologies applied to measure, interrogate, and repair brain
function and NSF has supported many critical studies. Advances have
resulted in quantitative measurements of protein functions and neural
signaling, experience-dependent and epigenetic regulation of cellular
functions, and neural circuits--to name just a few examples. New
empirical methods and new datasets used by labor and health economists
could be used to assess long-term developmental outcomes. And studies
of both legal and illegal markets for opioids will help us understand
how various policy alternatives can restrict access to illicit drugs.
Quantitative-based analysis of these data is becoming increasingly
important to understand the causes, pathways, diagnosis, prognosis, and
treatment of addiction.
Biologists, psychologists, and clinicians commonly lack the
extensive skills in math, physics, computer science, and chemistry that
are required for the sophisticated levels of analysis that are needed
to extract useful information from these large datasets. So, NSF
programs such as Integrative Approaches to Neural and Cognitive Systems
and Next Generation Networks for Neuroscience bring together
mathematicians, physicists, computer scientists, and engineers with
strong backgrounds in biological research with psychologists and
neuroscientists--groups of scientists whose research fields do not
traditionally intersect. The goal of these programs is to catalyze
understanding of the brain at the convergence of quantitative,
biological, and behavioral research.
These types of activities are also strengthened by inter-agency
partnerships. For example, in partnership with the NIH and several
international funding agencies, multiple NSF Directorates support
collaborative research. NSF's long-standing support of chemistry,
bioengineering, nanotechnology, microfabrication, and materials
research pave the way for the development of designer drugs that can
target pain receptors without engaging the signaling pathways that
result in the development of addiction.
These existing NSF activities serve well to help combat the opioid
crisis through: [1] catalyzing new scientific breakthroughs, [2]
unleashing the power of data, and [3] accelerating the delivery of new
therapeutics to patients.
NSF's mission is to be pioneering and exploratory. Unpacking the
complexity of the opioid crisis will require convergence of research
across behavioral sciences, social sciences, biology, computer science,
mathematics, the physical sciences, and engineering. NSF is uniquely
positioned to support cutting edge research in this culture of
convergence.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Bill Nelson to
Dr. Walter Copan
Question 1. In 2002, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act,
partially in response to issues in my state during the 2000
presidential election. Under that act, NIST is charged with conducting
research to ensure security in voting systems. What are the biggest
threats to the security of our voting system? What protocols should be
improved or implemented in voting systems?
Answer. To prevent large scale electronic attacks on the Nation's
voting systems and to prevent errors which may be due to aging voting
equipment and infrastructure, NIST looks deeply at technical issues and
vulnerabilities, risk profiles, and the potential impacts on the
integrity and performance of voting systems and their associated
processes. In voting systems there are many potential threat vectors,
vulnerabilities, and associated impacts that vary from state to state
based on technologies used, architectures, policies, and other
requirements. Ensuring that the entities that run elections can
understand these risks and make informed risk-based decisions with the
resources they have can help with this wide assortment of issues. NIST
helped develop the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG), which are
a set of requirements that voting system hardware and software must
meet to receive an Election Assistance Commission (EAC) certification,
as one tool that states can use to help manage their risks. The most
recent draft of these standards, VVSG 2.0, was proposed to the EAC by
the Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC) on September 12,
2017. States may also tailor the voluntary NIST Framework for Improving
Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (Cybersecurity Framework) to
better understand, manage, and reduce cybersecurity risk in the context
of voting system processes.
Question 2. NIST's talented workforce is a key asset for the
agency. What tools does NIST have to support and retain their research
staff?
Answer. NIST is committed to furthering the Administration's
science and technology efforts to advance technological development and
conduct research and development to ensure national security, grow the
economy, and create well-paying jobs to improve the lives of all
Americans. NIST's scientific and technical workforce is a critical tool
in accomplishing these goals. NIST uses various tools to support,
maintain, and recruit workforce talent, including providing an
environment conducive to scientific innovation among staff, recognizing
staff achievements, offering promotion and leadership opportunities and
developmental assignment opportunities, and using authorized
competitive compensation systems and retention allowances.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Amy Klobuchar to
Dr. Walter Copan
Voting Security. As the Ranking Member on the Rules Committee, I
introduced the Secure Elections Act with Senators Lankford, Harris and
Graham, to upgrade our election equipment and protect against cyber-
attacks. The Department of Homeland Security recently confirmed that
hackers targeted 21 states' election systems in the run-up to the 2016
election. As we prepare for 2018 and beyond, we must ensure that our
election systems are secure. The National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST), worked with the Election Assistance Commission (EAC)
to develop voting system guidelines and the American Innovation and
Competitiveness Act authorized research to develop standards for voting
security.
Question 1. You have worked closely with the EAC on cybersecurity,
do you agree that states need more information and resources when it
comes to updating our election equipment and protecting against future
cyberattacks?
Answer. Each state has its own set of voting concerns based on
choices of technologies and architectures, implemented policies, and
the resources available. While additional cybersecurity guidance to the
states may be useful, it is important that each election jurisdiction
be allowed and encouraged to fit the guidance to its own local needs.
The Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) standard represents an
important toolkit that NIST has made available to states via the
Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to assist each state manage its
cybersecurity risk. In addition, the EAC, the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS), non-government organizations, and others are working to
provide further election assistance.
Question 2. What steps is NIST taking to help state and local
governments improve their cybersecurity in advance of the elections?
Answer. Strengthening cybersecurity is a top priority for the
Administration and the Department of Commerce. As the lead agency for
cybersecurity in the Department, NIST is actively working to provide
industry, government, and the public with the tools and best practices
to strengthen cybersecurity capabilities. With respect to cybersecurity
around voting, NIST chairs and manages the Technical Guidelines
Development Committee (TGDC) as part of its voting systems
responsibilities. In September 2017, the TGDC proposed to the EAC the
most recent iteration of the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG)
standard, which is a set of requirements that voting system hardware
and software must meet to receive an EAC certification. VVSG 2.0
consists of a high-level set of principles accompanied by technical
requirements for how systems can meet the new guidelines. To obtain
feedback for the development of the VVSG on a continuous basis, NIST
leads a set of public working groups. One of the technical groups
focuses on voting system security. NIST security research is
encapsulated in the principles, guidelines, and requirements that are
discussed and revised through bi-weekly teleconferences with the
cybersecurity working group, which consists of 121 experts across the
Nation. NIST also works to accredit independent laboratories that will
validate voting systems to ensure that the voting systems comply with
evolving guidelines and requirements.
NIST participates in several efforts led by the EAC, DHS, and non-
government entities, providing technical advice on voting system
security, including the Election Infrastructure Subsector (EIS)
Government Coordinating Council (GCC). The EIS GCC enables the Federal
Government to share information and collaborate with state, local and
tribal governments on best practices to mitigate and counter threats to
election infrastructure.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Richard Blumenthal to
Dr. Walter Copan
Staffing Vacancies. Over a year after President Trump took office,
the ranks of his government are still lacking in science and technology
experts. As I understand, the President still has no top science
advisor. Nor has he tapped a chief technology officer. In some cases,
Trump is relying on holdovers from the administrations of his
predecessors. In others, the president left key jobs unfilled. When
President Trump has submitted nominees to fill some of these positions,
they have often been highly unqualified or riddled with deep conflicts
of interest--making it impossible for the candidates to receive the
support needed to be confirmed.
Question 1. Are you concerned by the fact that many of the top
science and technology posts in the Federal Government are still
lacking leaders and in many cases nominees?
Answer. No. Since the President's inauguration, the Office of
Science and Technology Policy has built a team of over 50 staff members
to advise the President and advance his science and technology agenda.
Additionally, on August 1, 2018, the President nominated the University
of Oklahoma Vice President Kelvin Droegemeier to be the Director of the
Office of Science and Technology Policy. The Senate Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation held the confirmation for Dr.
Droegemeier on August 23, 2018. Collectively, the OSTP staff is working
on a robust agenda that touches a wide range of issues including
advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles,
biotechnology, quantum information science, cybersecurity, and other
important areas. As NIST Director and Under Secretary of Commerce for
Standards and Technology, I also provide leadership in matters of
science and technology, as do many other qualified senior officials in
numerous government agencies.
Question 2. How do these vacancies harm the scientific community?
Answer. These vacancies do not harm the scientific community. The
Trump Administration is committed to advancing technological
development and conducting research and development to ensure national
security, grow the economy, create well-paying jobs, and improve the
lives of Americans across this great nation. The Administration has not
experienced any trouble obtaining advice and input from the scientific
community as it develops its agenda. While the Administration is
working to identify qualified individuals fill vacant positions,
experienced Federal staff are discharging many of the functions of
these posts, consistent with the Administration's priorities and plans.
______
Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to
All Witnesses
Question. I am concerned about the increased political interference
in scientific research by this Administration. Can each of you identify
the specific actions you are taking to protect scientists, both agency
scientists and grant recipient scientists?
Answer. NIST scientists are empowered to present and speak about
their research. The December 16, 2011, Department of Commerce
Memorandum on Scientific Integrity explicitly commits to the protection
of scientific and technical findings from suppression or alteration by
any official. This policy is applied to all research conducted at NIST,
as well as to research supported by NIST, including all NIST contracts,
grants, and cooperative agreements.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to
Dr. Walter Copan
Question 1. Dr. Copan, you have stated that technology transfer is
a top priority for NIST. What do you think are the challenges of
technology transfer? What have you done at NIST to address those
challenges and improve technology transfer from federally funded
research to the private sector?
Answer. Under my direction, NIST will advance the President's
Management Agenda to modernize government for the 21st century through
the associated Lab-to-Market Cross Agency Priority Goal in coordination
with the White House's OSTP through our Return on Investment (ROI)
Initiative. NIST has issued a Request for Information (RFI) in the
Federal Register, to engage broadly with private-and public-sector
stakeholders in a comprehensive assessment of our technology transfer
landscape. As part of this ROI Initiative, NIST will hold four public
meetings across the country in San Jose, California; Denver, Colorado;
Chicago, Illinois; and at NIST's headquarters in Gaithersburg,
Maryland. The intent of this initiative is to conduct a comprehensive
assessment of the Federal technology transfer system that will identify
opportunities to improve Federal technology transfer efforts, policies,
and practices. The goal of this effort is to, where appropriate,
streamline and accelerate transfer of technology from Federal R&D
investments to attract greater private-sector investment for innovative
products, processes, and services, as well as new businesses and
industries that will create jobs, grow the economy, and enhance
national security.
Question 2. Dr. Copan, AICA authorizes NIST to provide financial
and logistical support for research fellowships for undergraduate,
graduate and post-graduate students. Can you tell me how investing in
STEM research and education is essential to America's economic and
global competitiveness, prosperity and quality of life? Are there
specific examples of research projects that highlight the importance of
this investment?
Answer. A robust pipeline of future scientists, engineers, and
technologists must be supported to assure U.S. competitiveness for the
coming years and generations. The desired long-term impact is a healthy
future economy that is driven by a strong science and technology sector
being supplied by talented scientists, engineers, and technologists,
including those with highly developed measurement science skills.
To help expand the Nation's cumulative talent in measurement
science, NIST has established a number of programs to support
undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students including the NIST
Postdoctoral Research Associateships Program, Graduate Student
Measurement Science and Engineering Fellowship, Professional Research
Experience Program, Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program,
and Summer Institute for Middle School Science Teachers.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Catherine Cortez Masto
to Dr. Walter Copan
Transportation Innovation and Cybersecurity. Dr. Copan, during your
confirmation process I noted my leadership on establishing more SMART
communities, and NIST's role in cybersecurity in this area, in your
nomination hearing questions for the record. As well, the Senate
Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee has been very active on
working to safely advance autonomous vehicles. In your response, you
said that you looked ``forward to being more fully briefed on this (my)
legislation'' and on the status of the NIST work in relation to future
transportation technologies.
Question 1. Can you tell me what you've learned in relation to
cybersecurity and the future of transportation?
Answer. Over the past five years, NIST has increased its
involvement with the transportation sector in the area of
cybersecurity. NIST leadership in cybersecurity, the security and
interoperability of the Internet of Things, and programs on artificial
intelligence and machine learning supports a broad portfolio of NIST
work related to measurements, standards and enabling technologies for
autonomous ground-based, airborne and seaborne vehicle systems.
The transportation sector has seen a rising awareness of
cybersecurity risks to both installed infrastructure and future
products. NIST has seen increased concern in the vehicle, aeronautics
and railroad sectors, as well as increased reporting of discovered
cybersecurity vulnerabilities by independent researchers.
Specific NIST engagements include:
1. A joint project at National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence
(NCCoE) with the federally funded research and development
Volpe Center and U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT),
examining cybersecurity and privacy issues in connected
transportation;
2. A project with DOT at NIST's NCCoE that is applying both the NIST
Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity
and the NIST Privacy Framework to the data-sharing aspect of
the Columbus Smart City project;
3. Participation on various committees at the Society of Automobile
Engineers (SAE), including work on the cybersecurity issues
related to the on-board diagnostic 2 Port;
4. Participation in the joint SAE-ISO working group that is
developing the first international standard on cybersecurity
management in the development of vehicles;
5. Expert review and comments to DOT and vehicle industry
stakeholders on the proposed V2V communications structure; and
6. Consultation by NIST experts with the Automotive Information
Sharing and Analysis Center on that organization's
cybersecurity best practices guide.
Question 2. Also, is your updated cyber framework useful in seeing
into the future and helping to protect these emerging technologies?
Answer. Yes. Version 1.1 of the Framework for Improving Critical
Infrastructure Cybersecurity (the NIST Cybersecurity Framework),
released in April 2018, provides a way to understand emerging
technologies and manage their associated cybersecurity risk. The NIST
Cybersecurity Framework prompts us to ask critical questions about a
given technology, such as:
How will this emerging technology achieve all of the
cybersecurity outcomes defined in the Framework?
Are there any outcomes in the Framework that are difficult
or impossible to achieve with the emerging technology?
Can we make provision for those cybersecurity outcomes that
are difficult to achieve by helping to identify compensating
capabilities in the Framework to the achieve those outcomes?
Are there any additional security capabilities enabled by
the emerging technology that should be added to the Framework
to enhance the Framework's comprehensiveness?
The Framework also supports organizations in answering important
implementation questions about a given emerging technology such as:
Will implementing the technology introduce untenable risk to
my organization?
If not, what do I need to do to ensure secure implementation
and on-going risk management of this new technology?
MEP Program Support. Dr. Copan, as part of your confirmation I
asked you about whether manufacturers and Nevadans could count on the
Commerce Department and NIST's continued commitment to the
Manufacturing Extension Partnership. You provided me a response
essentially about how the FY18 budget prioritized the military,
national security and cuts in other areas were needed to ``keep the
Nation on a responsible fiscal path.'' In addition, you underscored you
would ``develop a more complete understanding of the status of the MEP
program and to implement the planned transition to non-federal
funding.''
Question 3. Is that your actual opinion of what needs to happen
with regards to cuts to MEP?
Answer. The Administration and I continue to believe that to keep
the Nation on a responsible fiscal path, it is necessary to make tough
choices. As you know, Congress appropriated $140 million for the
Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program (MEP) for FY 2018 and I
will work to ensure that each dollar spent maximizes the return on
investment to American taxpayers. The Administration's proposed
elimination of Federal funding support for the MEP Program will not
necessarily destroy the ability of the MEP Program to accomplish its
mission. The MEP Program requires each local independent center to
provide one dollar in non-federal funds to match each Federal dollar it
receives. The Administration believes that local MEP Centers could
continue to serve manufacturers without Federal support and that these
centers would transition to entirely non-federal revenue sources.
Question 4. Does that mean you don't see any value in continuing to
ensure there is a Federal funding role, including in the benefit of our
Nation's security, for the important and valuable role of the MEP
program from my Nevada small and medium sized businesses?
Answer. See response to prior question.
Science Vacancies in the Administration. The Administration's
commitment to science has understandably raised concerns because of
actions it has and has not taken. While I could give you a long list of
just the policy decisions alone, I wanted to ask about vacancies and
their hiring freeze policy.
Question 5. What are the detrimental impacts of the White House
still not having nominated or filled various leadership positions
within the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)?
Answer. Since the President's inauguration the Office of Science
and Technology Policy has built a team of over 50 staff members to
advise the President and advance his science and technology agenda.
That agenda touches a wide range of issues including advanced
manufacturing, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles,
biotechnology, quantum information science, cybersecurity, and other
important areas. The Administration has not experienced any trouble
obtaining advice and input from the scientific community as it develops
its agenda. As NIST Director and Under Secretary of Commerce for
Standards and Technology, I also provide leadership in matters of
science and technology, as do many other qualified senior officials in
numerous government agencies. While the Administration is working to
identify qualified individuals fill vacant positions, experienced
Federal staff are discharging many of the functions of these posts,
consistent with the Administration's priorities and plans.
Question 6. What impact, if any, did the questionable hiring freeze
policy the Administration has employed have on your department, and the
scientific progress you're making?
Answer. NIST did not experience any impacts and is presently hiring
personnel as needed. NIST continues to make outstanding scientific
progress in all areas of measurement science.
[all]
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| MEMBERNAME | BIOGUIDEID | GPOID | CHAMBER | PARTY | ROLE | STATE | CONGRESS | AUTHORITYID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wicker, Roger F. | W000437 | 8263 | S | R | COMMMEMBER | MS | 115 | 1226 |
| Blunt, Roy | B000575 | 8313 | S | R | COMMMEMBER | MO | 115 | 1464 |
| Moran, Jerry | M000934 | 8307 | S | R | COMMMEMBER | KS | 115 | 1507 |
| Thune, John | T000250 | 8257 | S | R | COMMMEMBER | SD | 115 | 1534 |
| Baldwin, Tammy | B001230 | 8215 | S | D | COMMMEMBER | WI | 115 | 1558 |
| Udall, Tom | U000039 | 8260 | S | D | COMMMEMBER | NM | 115 | 1567 |
| Capito, Shelley Moore | C001047 | 8223 | S | R | COMMMEMBER | WV | 115 | 1676 |
| Cantwell, Maria | C000127 | 8288 | S | D | COMMMEMBER | WA | 115 | 172 |
| Klobuchar, Amy | K000367 | 8249 | S | D | COMMMEMBER | MN | 115 | 1826 |
| Tester, Jon | T000464 | 8258 | S | D | COMMMEMBER | MT | 115 | 1829 |
| Heller, Dean | H001041 | 8060 | S | R | COMMMEMBER | NV | 115 | 1863 |
| Peters, Gary C. | P000595 | 7994 | S | D | COMMMEMBER | MI | 115 | 1929 |
| Gardner, Cory | G000562 | 7862 | S | R | COMMMEMBER | CO | 115 | 1998 |
| Young, Todd | Y000064 | 7948 | S | R | COMMMEMBER | IN | 115 | 2019 |
| Blumenthal, Richard | B001277 | 8332 | S | D | COMMMEMBER | CT | 115 | 2076 |
| Lee, Mike | L000577 | 8303 | S | R | COMMMEMBER | UT | 115 | 2080 |
| Johnson, Ron | J000293 | 8355 | S | R | COMMMEMBER | WI | 115 | 2086 |
| Duckworth, Tammy | D000622 | S | D | COMMMEMBER | IL | 115 | 2123 | |
| Schatz, Brian | S001194 | S | D | COMMMEMBER | HI | 115 | 2173 | |
| Cruz, Ted | C001098 | S | R | COMMMEMBER | TX | 115 | 2175 | |
| Fischer, Deb | F000463 | S | R | COMMMEMBER | NE | 115 | 2179 | |
| Sullivan, Dan | S001198 | S | R | COMMMEMBER | AK | 115 | 2290 | |
| Cortez Masto, Catherine | C001113 | S | D | COMMMEMBER | NV | 115 | 2299 | |
| Hassan, Margaret Wood | H001076 | S | D | COMMMEMBER | NH | 115 | 2302 | |
| Inhofe, James M. | I000024 | 8322 | S | R | COMMMEMBER | OK | 115 | 583 |
| Markey, Edward J. | M000133 | 7972 | S | D | COMMMEMBER | MA | 115 | 735 |
| Nelson, Bill | N000032 | 8236 | S | D | COMMMEMBER | FL | 115 | 859 |
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